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JANUARY,  1945 

VOLUME  48  NUMBER  1 
RETURN  POSTAGE  GUARANTEED 
SALT    LAKE    CITY    1,    UTAH 


The  magic  flame  that  will  brighten  your  future. 
Unequalled  for  economy,  heat  control  and  speed 


MOUNTAIN    FUEL    SUPPLY    COMPANY 

Serving  Twenty-three  Utah  Communities 


By  DR.  FRANKLIN  S.  HARRIS,  JR. 

A  map  of  the  starry  heavens  was 
made  by  the  Pawnee  Indians  about 
the  time  of  Columbus.  Now  in  the 
Chicago  Natural  History  Museum,  the 
map  gives  the  positions  of  the  planets 
accurately  enough  for  astronomers  to 
be  able  to  tell  when  it  was  made. 
♦ 

"\17hen  spiders  span  a  wide  gap  the 
first  time  to  build  a  web,  it  is  usu- 
ally done  by  the  wind  carrying  a  single 
silken  line  across  first.  Spiders  have 
been  known  to  fix  one  end  of  a  single 
strand  to  an  object  high  above  the 
ground,  climb  down  to  the  ground  while 
reeling  out  the  strand,  then  climb  up 
high  on  another  object  many  feet  away 
and  reel  in  the  line  to  take  up  the  slack. 
4 

7V  study  of  the  time  to  locate  the 
proper  holes  and  dial  a  telephone 
number  has  revealed  that  the  over-all 
time  to  dial  a  seven-digit  number  is 
about  twelve  seconds. 
+ 

VSTisconsin  and  Oregon  were  likely 
both  named  for  the  same  river, 
the  Wisconsin,  one  of  the  main  routes 
used  by  the  French  in  passing  from  the 
Great  Lakes  to  the  Mississippi.  Oregon 
has  been  traced  back  to  the  form 
Oaaricon  on  early  maps,  but  on  most 
early  maps  Wisconsin  is  written 
Ouiconsing,  the  oui  later  being  changed 
to  wi  the  way  the  same  sound  may  be 
represented  in  English. 

4 : 

A  new  two-million  volt  X-ray  tube 
has  been  developed.  Medically  this 
will  make  possible  deeper  treatment  for 
cancer,  and  industrially  it  will  make  pos- 
sible examination  of  materials  for  flaws, 
by  taking  pictures  in  a  fraction  of  the 
time  necessary  with  the  best  previous 
tubes. 


FOR   WINTERTIME 


"Rish  can  be  trained  to  respond  to 
sound  over  about  the  same  pitch 
range  as  the  sensitivity  of  the  human 
ear.  Using  tuning  forks  and  food,  fish 
have  been  found  to  hear  weaker  sounds 
than  do  human  ears  also  under  water. 
Many  kinds  of  fish  make  sounds.  Min- 
nows when  excited  give  a  soft  piping 
sound. 


A  hundred  pounds  of  scrap  fats  and 
"^  oils  can  be  converted  into  more 
than  six  pounds  of  glycerin,  then  to 
fifteen  pounds  of  nitroglycerin.  This 
nitroglycerin  used  in  blasting  dynamite 
can  loosen  1500  tons  of  soft  coal  or  suf- 
ficient iron  ore  to  provide  steel  to  make 
two  thousand  hundred-pound  bombs. 
{Concluded  on  page  4) 

JANUARY,  1945 


ot  only  are  $fo*fy  <&*  grrhrms 
delicious  and  good  to  eat, 
but  they  re  so  nourishing,  too! 
Five  gyoH£v&££.  grrhrms  in  a 
glass  of  milk  actually  double 
the  nutritive  value  of 
milk!  Keep  a  generous 
c,lpply  on  hand  for  hearty 


■  ■ 

£-      look  for  the  Rich 
Brown  Package 


A  HABIT 
WORTH  WHILE 


Thousands  of  women  regularly  every  Tuesday  and  Thursday  morning 
tune  in  Mary  Lee  Taylor's  broadcast  of  recipe  demonstrations  from  the  Sego 
Milk  Experimental  Kitchen.  They  do  it  to  get  new  ideas  that  help  them  pre- 
pare wartime  meals  that  are  more  wholesome  and  delicious  and  that  cost 
less  .  . .  with  Irradiated  Sego  Milk. 

Listeners  are  invited  to  write  for  free  cookbooks  and  recipes  and  menu 
suggestions.    Tune  in  for  complete  details  . .  . 


the 
standard 

OF 

HIGHEST 
QUALITY 


Every  Tuesday  and  Thursday  Morning 


KSL  —    9:00  a.m. 

KUTA—  11:15  a.m. 

KLO  —  10:15  a.m. 

KSUB  —    9:00  a.m. 

KGIR  —  10:30  a.m. 

KRBM  —  10:30  a.m. 

KPFA  —  10:30  a.m. 

KFBB  —     9:45  a.m. 

KGVO  —    9:45  a.m. 

KIDO  —  10:30  a.m. 

KTFI  —  10:30  a.m. 

KSEI  —  10:15  a.m. 

KOH  —    9:15  a.m. 

KOVO  —  10:15  a.m. 

KEUB  —  10:15  a.m. 

Also— you'll  enjoy  "THE  SATURDAY  NIGHT  SERENADE" 

featuring  Jessica  Dragon otte 

Every  Saturday — 7:45  to  8:15  p.m.— KSL 

Sego  Milk  Products  Company 

Originator  of  Evaporated  Milk  in  the  Intermountain  West 
Plants  in  Richmond,  Utah;  Preston  and  Buhl,  Idaho 


Jke   Uc 


ouer 

This  study  in  wheels 
is  by  Jeano  Or- 
lando. Wheels  suggest 
many  things.  Inactive 
wheels  suggest  the 
dormancy  of  winter. 
The  turn  of  the  wheel 
suggests  the  turn  of 
the  year.  Wheels  are 
basic  to  motion,  basic 
to  travel,  basic  to  ma- 
terial progress. 


Editors 

Heber  J.  Grant 
John  A.  Widtsoe 

Managing  Editor 

Richard  L  Evans 

Associate  Editors 

Marba  C.  Josephson 
William  Mulder 

(on  leave  with  the  armed 

forces) 

General  Manager 

George  Q.  Morris 

Associate  Manager 

Lucy  G.  Cannon 

Business  Manager 
John  D.  Giles 

National  Advertising 
Representatives 

Francis  M.  Mayo, 

Salt  Lake  City 
Edward  S.  Townsend, 

San  Francisco  and 

Los  Angeles 
Dougan  and  Bolle, 

Chicago  and 

New  York  . 

Member,  Audit  Bureau  of 
Circulations 


QmpTOieiEFbra 


JANUARY,  1945 


VOLUME  48,  NO.  1 


"THE    VOICE     OF     THE    CHURCH" 

Official  Organ  of  the  Priesthood  Quorums,  Mutual  Improvement 

Associations,  Department  of  Education,  Music  Committee,  Ward 

Teachers,  and  Other  Agencies  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of 

Latter-day  Saints 

* 


Jke  (Lditor'd  J^a 

Greetings  from  the  First  Presidency... 


9 


e 


10 


L^kurck  ^jreattArei 


"Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  Which  Taketh  Away  the  Sin  of 

the  World" J.  Reuben  Clark,  Jr.  12 

The  Prophet  Joseph  Smith — on  Doctrine  and  Organization.... 

David  C\  McKay  14 

A  Mormon  Wife — The  Life  Story  of  Augusta  Winters  Grant 

— HI:  Augusta  Goes  Away  to  School....Mary  Grant  Judd  16 
Mr.  Church  Officer:  Do  You  Talk  Too  Much? 

Marvin  O.  Ashton  21 

Mission  Spirit  Kept  Alive Ann  C*  Larson  22 

Evidences  and  Reconciliations:   LXXXVD3 — Why  Is  Rein* 

carnation  a  False  Doctrine? John  A.  Widtsoe  29 


The  Church  Moves  On  25 

Priesthood:    The  Seventy  18 

Melchizedek  30 

Aaronic  33 


Ward  Teaching 34 

No-Liquor-Tobacco  Column  ....31 

Genealogy   32 

Music   35 


special  ^jreat 


T 


eatures 


Man's  Eternal  Belief  in  Immortality Levi  Edgar  Young  18 

Some  Experiences  with  General  Villa Leslie  L*  Sud weeks  23 

The  Spoken  Word  from  Temple  Square Richard  L.  Evans  26 


Exploring  the  Universe,  Frank- 
lin S.  Harris,  Jr 1 

Early  Indians  of.  the  Four-Cor- 
ner Region,  Charles  E.  Dib- 
ble   3 

Telefacts -  4 

Family   Fun,  Albert  L.  Zobell, 

Jr 6 

On  the  Bookrack 7 

The  Religious  Attitudes  of 
Noted  Men,  Leon  M.  Strong..  8 


Learning  to  Think,  Mabel-Ruth 

Jackson  32 

Homing:    Christmas  Cards  and 
Sugar    Sacks,    Gladys    F. 

Rasmussen   36 

Here's  How  36 

Cook's  Corner,  Josephine  B. 

Nichols  36 

Handy  Hints  38 

News  from  the  Camps  39 

Your  Page  and  Ours 56 


(Ldtforiaid 


"And  the  Books  Were  Opened" Richard  L«  Evans  28 

New  Year's  Wish , Marba  C.  Josephson  28 


S^tories,  j-^oet 


The  Hardscrabble  Grizzlies Claude  T.  Barnes  20 

The  Lost  Pathfinder— Part  I Ann  Woodbury  Hafen  40 

Thoughts  in  a  Kitchen,  Elaine  Frontispiece:    Winter,  Eva  W. 

V.  Emans ~ 2  Wangsgaard   9 

Come,  Holy   Spirit,    C.   Frank  Poetry  Page _. 24 

Steele 6 


JkoiAqhfa 


a 


louatiid  in 
^J\itckt 


len 


By  Elaine  V.  Emans 

I    made    the    cookies 
that  you  like  today, 

And,  tucking  them  into 
their  squatty  jar, 

I  thought,  why  must 
he  be  too  far  away 

To  have  them?  Then 
I  smiled,  for  though 
too  far 

For  things  I  bake,  I 
knew  that  you  are 
near 

Enough  for  safe  re- 
ceiving of  the  store 

Of  courage  I  can  send, 
and  sunny  cheer, 

And  dreams  of  future, 
faith;  and,  even  more 

Important  probably, 
there  is  no  ban 

On  love  which  one 
may  send  a  service- 
man! 


Change  of  Address: 

Fifteen  days'  notice  re- 
quired for  change  of  ad- 
dress. When  ordering  a 
change,  please  include 
stencil  impression  from  a 
recent  issue  of  the  maga- 
zine. Address  changes 
cannot  be  made  unless 
the  old  address  as  well  as 
the  new  one  is  included. 

Executive  and  Editorial 
Offices: 

50  North  Main  Street, 
Salt  Lake  City  1,  Utah. 

Copyright  1944  by  Mu- 
tual Funds,  Inc.,  a  Cor- 
poration of  the  Young 
Men's  Mutual  Improve- 
ment Association  of  the 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of 
Latter-day  Saints.  All 
rights  reserved.  Subscrip- 
tion price,  $2.00  a  year, 
in  advance;  20c  single 
copy. 

Entered  at  the  Post 
Office,  Salt  Lake  City, 
Utah,  as  second-class 
matter.  Acceptance  for 
mailing  at  special  rate  of 
postage  provided  for  in 
section  1 1 03,  Act  of  Oc- 
tober, 1917,  authorized 
July  2,  1918. 

The  Improvement  Era 
is  not  responsible  for  un- 
solicited manuscripts,  but 
welcomes  contributions. 

All  manuscripts  must  be 
accompanied     by     suffi- 
cient postage  for  delivery 
and  return. 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


oftL  FOUR-CORNERS 
REGION 

By  DR.  CHARLES  E.  DIBBLE 


7TS  we  search  for  the  beginnings  of 
u\  Indian  history  in  Utah,  it  is  neces- 
•*•  *  sary  to  piece  together  the  story 
from  the  sketchy  existing  evidence.  The 
first  people  of  which  we  find  remains 
are  a  hunting  and  food-gathering  people 
who  wandered  over  most  of  Southwest- 
ern United  States.  They  lived  in  caves; 
their  tools  were  of  flint;  and  their  prin- 
cipal weapon  was  a  spear. 

About  300  A.D.  an  agricultural  peo- 
ple appeared  in  the  Four-corners  area. 
At  first  this  culture  was  limited  to  the 
area  drained  by  the  San  Juan  River.  The 
culture  has  come  to  be  known  as  the 
basketmaker  culture,  because  the  peo- 
ple made  an  excellent  type  of  basketry. 
The  first  stage  of  their  culture  is  Basket- 
maker  LI. 

The  Basketmaker  II  people  were 
long-headed;  they  lived  in  brush  wind- 
breaks at  the  rear  of  open  caves.  They 
constructed  a  slab-lined  pit  (cist)  in 
which  they  stored  their  surplus  food. 
They  made  clothing  of  bark,  rabbit- 
skins,  and  woven  feathers.  Their  san- 
dals were  made  of  yucca  fiber.  They 
buried  their  dead  in  a  flexed  position; 
almost  invariably  well-made  baskets 
were  placed  over  the  head  of  the  de- 
ceased. The  only  domesticated  animal 
was  the  dog. 

In  addition  to  hunting,  the  chief 
source  of  food  was  corn  and  squash. 
The  basic  agricultural  implement  for 
digging  and  cultivating  was  a  pointed 
or  blade-like  stick  which  was  used  for 
planting  or  loosening  the  soil. 

At  this  point  in  the  pre-history  of  the 

Southwest  the  efforts  of  the  people  were 

(Concluded  on  page  38) 


OBJECTS  FROM  UTAH  CAVES:  a,  hairbrush 
of  pine  needles;  b,  fragment  of  carrying  band; 
c,  dipper  of  mountain  sheep  horn;  d,  pottery 
paint  cup;    e,  ball  of  cord. 

—From  the  Bureau   of  American  Ethnology 
Publication~bg  Neil  M.   Judd  -J 


Tom  loved  his 

Sunday  morning  sleep. 
Come  time  for 

Breakfast,  not  a  peep! 


Till  Sue  served 

pancakes  of  "straight  wheat" 
Now  Tom  thinks 

Breakfast  can't  be  beat! 


No  one  will  miss  breakfast  time 
at  your  house,  when  it's  time  for 
tender,  "straight  wheat"  pancakes  I 
Remember  Grandma's  pancakes? 
.  .  .  well,  you  get  the  same  grand, 
old-fashioned  flavor  from  Globe 
"Al"  Pancake  &  Waffle  Flour- 
made  with  "straight  wheat"  flour. 


A  special  treat  for  the  family ...  but 
no  special  trouble  for  you.  You 
make  delicious  pancakes  in  a  jiffy. 
Just  add  water  or  milk  to  ready- 
mixed  Globe  "Al"  Pancake  & 
Waffle  Flour,  stir,  and  bake.  And 
for  super-tender  A-l  waffles  follow 
the  easy  recipe  on  the  box. 


And  here's  the  reason  why... 

A-l  "straight  wheat"  flavor  is  an 
exclusive  feature  of  Globe  "Al"  Pancake 
&  Waffle  Flour.  It  results  from  a  blending 
of  highest  quality  ingredients  just  like 
you'd  use  in  your  own  kitchen  .  .  . 
flour  (straight  wheat  ...  no  other 
grains),  buttermilk,  and  five  other 
baking  ingredients  .  .  .  already  mixed 
for  your  convenience.  Globe  "Al"  has 
that  truly,  old-fashioned  and  home- 
made flavor! 


GLOBE  Mf) 


PANCAKE  AND 
WAFFLE  FLOUR 


JANUARY,  1945 


[THE   ADVENTURES   OF  MRS.    GIBSON] 


II 


the  Case  of  the 


Mr.  Gibson  wouldn't  eat 
his  breakfast.  He  didn't  like 
this  —  he  didn't  have  time 
for  that.  He'd  race  through 
the  morning  paper,  swallow 
a  glass  of  milk  and  make  a 
dive  for  the  7:20  bus. 

Then  Mrs.  G.  discovered 
ZOOM.  "I'd  like  that,  my- 
self," she  thought,  "and 
since  it  cooks  instantly  it 
won't  take  long  to  prepare." 

So  she  cooked  some  for 
her  breakfast  but  when  Mr. 
Gibson  saw  it  he  said:  "That 
looks  mighty  good.  I  might 
try  a  little."  And  before  he 
jumped  for  the  bus,  he'd 
eaten  two  bowlsful. 

•      •       • 

Have  you  a  breakfast- 
slighter  in  your  home? 
ZOOM,  Fisher's  instant-cook- 
ing whole  wheat  cereal  will 
start  the  day  right  with  a 
hot,  nourishing  meal  that 
"lasts  till  lunch."  Get  ZOOM 
at  your  grocer's  today. 


INSTANT   COOKING 
WHOLE   WHEAT   CEREAL 


TEiEFACT 


190 


HOW  SOME  FOOD  PRICES  HAVE 
GONE  UP  SINCE  1939 


100   - 


FRUITS  & 
VEGETABLES 


EGGS 


DAIRY 
PRODUCTS 


MEATS 


CEREAL, 

BAKERY 

PRODUCTS 


WCTOGRAPH  CORPORATION 


EXPLORING  THE  UNIVERSE 


( Concluded  from  page  1 ) 
VI  7ooden  dry  docks  for  ships  arc  built 

*^    in  polluted  waters,  rather  than  in 
clean  waters,  because  bugs  and  destruc- 
tive   worms    cannot    live    in    polluted 
waters. 
* 

A  new  type  pump  has  been  invented 
which  uses  the  beating  of  the  waves 
against  a  ship's  side  for  power.  It  is 
claimed  that  waves  a  foot  and  a  half 
high  will  enable  the  pump  to  eject  one 
ton  of  water  a  minute. 
^ 


P\r.  Paul  H.  Harmon  has  treated 
*-^  arthritis  surgically  by  inserting 
plastic  cups  in  the  affected  joints  after 
the  excess  bone  growth  has  been  re- 
moved, permitting  painless  motion. 


HPhe  United  States  could  support  a 
population  of  about  five  hundred 
fifty  million,  Dr.  William  J.  Berry  has 
estimated,  on  the  basis  of  resources  and 
a  comparison  of  geographical  regions 
of  the  United  States  with  more  heavily 
populated  regions  of  comparable  soil 
and  climate  in  other  parts  of  the  world. 


\Tery  promising  experiments  indicate 
^  that  the  labor  of  sugar  beet  thinning 
may  be  eliminated.  By  separating  the 
multiple  sugar  beet  seed  into  single 
seeds,  the  seeds  can  be  planted  individu- 
ally the  proper  distance  apart. 
+ 

[  aboratory  work  has  found  that  sus- 
pensions  of  a  mold,  probably  of  the 
penicillium   group,    interfere   with   the 
growth  of  the  tubercule  bacilli. 

4 

A  chicken  that  is  nearly  all  light  meat 
■^  has  been  developed  at  the  Belts- 
ville,  Maryland,  experiment  station. 

4 

f"\NiON  flavor  occurs  in  cow's  milk 
^^  within  about  five  minutes  after  the 
cow  has  eaten  onions,  and  does  not  dis- 
appear until  six  hours  after  feeding. 
French  weed  flavor  in  the  milk  takes 
longer  to  disappear.  To  avoid  weed 
flavors  in  the  milk,  cows  must  be  kept 
off  weedy  pastures  three  to  eight  hours 
before  milking. 
4 

/^\nly  one  third  of  the  area  of  the 
^-*  United  States  is  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River. 


TEUFACT 


CANADA'S  WHEAT  PRODUCTION  GOING  UP  AGAIN 

QQQQQQOOOQQQOS 


1940 


r941 


1942 


1943 


1944 


QOOQQQC 


QQOOQQOOQOOOOOCQ 


QOQQOOQS 


QQQQQQQQOOQ 


Each  symbol  represents  40  million  busheis 


P1CTOGRAPH  CORPORATION 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


Joseph  the  Prophet  lives  in  the 
hearts  of  his  people  with  affection 
undiminished  by  time. 

Joseph  The  Prophet  $1.50 


UTAH,  the  beautiful,  her  hardy  in- 
dustries, courageous  people,  and 
wealth  of  dramatic  story. 

Utah  In  Her  Western 
Setting  $3.50 


Another    and    different    story   of   a 
most  remarkable  career. 

Joseph  Smith 

The  Prophet  $3.00 


In  language  remarkable  for  clarity 
and  beauty,  a  profound  thinker 
shows  the  way  to  secure  an  abun- 
dant living. 

Constancy  Amid 
Change   $2.00 


Here  "appears  the  Mormon  leader, 
full  stature  and  four  square,  im- 
measurably superior  to  most  of  the 
eminent  men  of  his  time." 

Joseph  Smith,  An 
American   Prophet..$3.00 


More  than  four  score  years  of  liv- 
ing Mormonism  produced. 

Gospel  Standards  ..$2.25 


DESERET     BDDK     CDMPANY 


"THE  BOOK  CENTER  OF  THE  INTERMOUNTAIN  WEST" 
44  East  South  Temple  St.,  P.  O.  Box  958,  Salt  Lake  City  10,  Utah 


Please  send  me 


Name 


Address 


The  following  books:  

Please  send  me  a  copy  of  your  latest  catalog.    Herewith  $. 


JANUARY,  1945 


OK,  LADY! 


MOTHER 
MACA 
SAYS . . . 


Here's  Succes 
Insurance  for 
Your  Baking! 

Amazing 

MACA  YEAST 

Use  just  like  compressed  yeast 

—  nothing  new  to  learn. 

Yet  it  keeps  fresh  on  your 

pantry  shelf  for  weeks! 

Needs  no  refrigeration! 

•  Imagine!  Now— with  Maca  Yeast— 
you  can  be  sure  of  baking  delicious 
bread  and  rolls  fast  .  .  .  using  it  just 
like  compressed  yeast.  No  special  meth- 
ods or  recipes.  Yet  you  enjoy  the  flavor 
and  convenience  advantages  of  granu- 
lar yeast  that  only  Maca  gives  you ! 

Save  Time  and  Energy  2  Ways ! 

•  Maca  Yeast  acts  so  fast  —  rises  so 
quickly— you're  all  finished  baking  in  a 
few  hours.  Maca  saves  extra  trips  to  the 
store,  too  —  because  you  can  keep  it  fresh 
for  weeks  on  your  pantry  shelf,  always 
handy.  It's  dated  for  your  complete  pro- 
tection. And  what  a  difference  in  results ! 
Maca  gives  bread  and  rolls  that  thrilling 
old-fashioned  flavor  . . .  just  like  grand- 
ma's bread  used  to  have. 


All  Yeast! 
No  Water, 
No  Filler! 


MAKE  A  HIT  WITH  MACA! 

Serve  your  folks  tempting,  golden-crusted 
bread  and  rolls  with  that  thrilling  old- 
time  flavor.  Just  bake  with  Maca,  the 
original  fast  granular  yeast.  Ask  your  gro- 
cer for  Maca  Yeast  today ! 

P.  S.  Since  Maca  is  serving  the  armed 
forces,  your  grocer  might  not  always  have 
it.  If  he  doesn't,  ask  for  Yeast  Foam,  your 
faithful  standby.  It,  too,  gives  bread  and 
rolls  a  grand  old-fashioned  flavor. 

NORTHWESTERN  YEAST  COMPANY 

1750  N.  Ashland  Ave.      •      Chicago  22,  III. 

COPYRIGHT  1544.    NORTHWESTERN    YEAST    CO. 


3 


Family  Fun 


By  Albert  L.  Zobell,  /r. 

■\17ith  the  long  winter  evenings  and 
*  *  the  prospects  that  rationing  will 
keep  still  more  of  us  at  home,  one  won- 
ders just  what  can  be  done  in  the  way 
of  family  entertainment,  when  the  group 
gathers  around.  How  about  an  old  time 
spelling  bee?  Way  back  there  in  school 
we  learned  a  rule  of  spelling:  "/  before 
e,  except  after  c."  Later  on,  they  told 
us  that  "the  exception  proved  the  rule." 
There's  either,  neither,  weird,  seize, 
veil,  their,  height,  leisure,  reign,  caf- 
feine .  .  .  but  how  many  can  your  group 
name  in  twenty  seconds  by  the  clock? 

There  are  other  rules  that  can  be 
cited,  and  the  exceptions  called. 

Every  word  must  have  a  vowel.  But 
how  many  words  can  you  name  with  all 
six  vowels?  Here's  a  starter :  facetious- 
ly, vexatiously,  unquestionably,  unaf- 
fectionately,  instantaneously,  disadvan- 
tageously,  unintentionally,  ambidex- 
trously,  and  unimpressionably. 

Another  very  interesting  field  is  the 
proverbs.  Did  you  ever  stop  to  think 
how  many  of  them  contradict  each 
other?  There's  "Nothing  ventured, 
nothing  gained,"  and  the  equally  good 
proverb,  "He  who  hesitates  is  lost." 
Another  set  is  "Birds  of  a  feather  flock 
together,"  which  is  cancelled  by  "Op- 
posites  attract."  Make  it  a  game  by 
adding  to  the  list. 

Instructors  of  typewriting  often  give 
students  sentences  containing  every  let- 
ter of  the  alphabet.  It's  surprising  how 
easy  it  is  to  make  a  short  sentence  con- 
taining all  the  letters. 

Did  you  ever  try  your  hand  at  writing 
newspaper  headlines?  That's  mental 
gymnastics  that  can  be  made  into  good 
fun.  Take  that  front  page  story  to- 
night. Count  the  space  used  in  the  head, 
allowing  one  and  a  half  spaces  for  each 
m  and  w,  one  half  space  for  each  i,  re- 
member to  count  the  space  between 
words,  and  now  see  if  you  can  make  a 
better  headline  than  the  editor  did.  It 
can't  be  too  long  for  the  width  of  the 
column,  and  a  short  line  is  about  as  bad, 
and  what's  more  important,  the  head- 
line must  say  something. 


COME,  HOLY  SPIRIT 

A  Prayer 
By  C.  Frank  Steele 

Come,  Holy  Spirit,  light  divine, 
Come,  fill  this  suppliant  heart  of  mine; 
Come  with  thy  grace  that  I  may  see 
The  power  of  God's  felicity. 

Come,  Holy  Spirit,  witness  still 
Of  God's  great  love,  his  words  fulfil 
That  he  shall  never  cease  to  bless, 
Nor  leave  his  children  comfortless. 

Come,  Holy  Spirit,  in  thy  care 
The  peace  of  God  all  men  may  share; 
O,  may  the  light  of  truth  be  shed 
Upon  the  living  and  the  dead. 

Come,  Holy  Spirit,  power  divine, 
Cleanse  thou  with  fire  this  soul  of  mine; 
And  may  thy  Saints  anointed  be 
To  reign  forever,  Lord,  with  thee. 


World's  Grand  Prize  award- 
ed the  makers  of  Mrs.  J.  G. 
McDonald's  Chocolates  at 
the  London  International  ex- 
position .  .  .  one  of  six 
world's  grand  prizes  and 
44  gold  medals  received  for 
excellence. 


TN  this  height  of  the  holi- 
day season,  you'll  find 
Mrs.  J.  G.  McDonald's 
Chocolates  a  world-fa- 
mous addition  to  every 
festive  occasion.  Choose 
them — as  thousands  of 
hostesses  do — for  their 
freshness  and  delicious 
goodness. 

Serve  them  for  your  for- 
mal events — or  with  equal 
success,  a  thoughtful  ges- 
ture to  those  friends  and 
neighbors  who  drop  in 
through  the  holidays. 

Yes,  Mrs.  J.  G.  McDonald's 
Chocolates  offer  you  a 
perfect  way  of  saying 
"welcome" — and  of  offer- 
ing the  best  of  good  choc- 
olates for  those  you  greet 
in  your  home. 

Mrs.J.G.McDonald 

Chocolate  Company 

Salt  Lake  City — Owned  and  Operated  by 
Mrs.  J.  G.  McDonald  and  R.  Neal  McDonald 
THE  IMPROVEMENT  FRA 


0  vvc^e~Boo  feracfe 


THE  SHAPE  OF  BOOKS  TO  COME 
(J.  Donald  Adams.   Viking  Press,  New 
York.    1944.   202  pages.    $2.50.) 

IN  this  book  the  author  has  turned  the  clear 
light  of  his  critical  values  on  the  writings 
and  writers  of  the  immediate  past  and  pres- 
ent, with  the  result  that  the  reader  can  him- 
self reach  definite  standards  of  criticism  that 
will  benefit  him  in  all  of  his  reading. 

Divided  into  eleven  chapters,  with  a  fore- 
word and  an  epilogue,  the  book  will  find 
ready  acceptance  by  all  who  are  interested 
in  reading.  Two  statements  that  he  makes 
in  his  foreword  deserve  wide  consideration 
by  writers  and  genuine  acceptance  by  read- 
ers: "We  shall  not  wear  blinders  or  rose- 
colored  glasses  in  the  years  that  lie  ahead, 
but  we  shall  look  up  as  well  as  down,"  and 
".  .  .  literature,  during  the  years  immediately 
ahead,  will  seek  above  all  else  to  restore 
the  dignity  of  the  human  spirit."  Another 
statement  that  should  interest  those  who 
wish  to  keep  the  language  clean  is  that 
concerning  vulgarity  and  profanity,  in  which 
he  states  that  we  are  convinced  that  when 
we  are  around  those  who  use  them,  of  the 
monotony  of  their  conversation. 

This  is  a  book  that  deserves  wide  recogni- 
tion.— M.  C.  /. 

LONE  JOURNEY,  THE  LIFE 

OF  ROGER  WILLIAMS 

(Jeanette  Eaton.  Harcourt,  Brace  and  Co., 

New  York.    1944.    266  pages.    $2.50.) 

Throughout  his  life,  Roger  Williams  had 
a  passion  for  liberty  and  freedom  of 
conscience.  History  relates  how  he  estab- 
lished Rhode  Island,  the  first  state  to  include 
religious  freedom  in  its  constitution.  But 
history  only  recently  has  come  to  recognize 
the  other  exceptional  qualities  that  were 
Roger  Williams':  his  insistence  that  there 
be  a  clear-cut  division  of  church  and  state: 
his  great  concept  of  racial  tolerance;  his 
love  of  peace;  his  studiousness  which  began 
with  learning  a  special  kind  of  shorthand 
and  ended  with  a  translation  of  Indian  words 
into  English. 

But  even  this  does  not  satisfactorily  ex- 
plain the  absorption  of  this  book,  for  the 
author,  taking  an  unusual  man  for  biogra- 
phy, has  done  an  unusually  good  job  of 
making  him  live  for  all  who  will  read  this 
well-written,  exciting  book.  Although  it  is 
written  for  young  readers,  adults  will  be  re- 
paid for  reading  it. — M.  C.  J. 

THE  UNIVERSE  AROUND  US 

(Sir  James  Jeans.    Macmillan  Company, 
New  York.    Fourth  Edition. 
1944.   297  pages.   $3.75.) 

Because  this  book  has  so  much  to  offer 
the  lay  member,  who,  not  being  scientist, 
will  gain  perspective  and  stature  through 
reading  it,  I  am  taking  the  precarious  liber- 
ty of  recommending  it  to  all  people.  Some 
things  in  the  book,  Latter-day  Saints  will 
not  accept,  but  the  other  things  which  are 
conducive  to  growth  and  idealism  so  far 
outweigh  the  few  things  that  cannot  be  ac- 
cepted that  the  book  deserves  wide  reading. 
Latter-day  Saints  must  learn  to  be  dis- 
criminating readers.  Where  truth  has  been 
given  them  that  the  ordinary  run  of  man 
does  not  have,  Latter-day  Saints  must  live 
by  that  truth,  thus  dismissing  things  which 
they  know  to  be  false  and  which  in  good 
time  will  be  subject  to  revision  by  the  authors 
themselves.  Latter-day  Saints  have  lived 
to  see  the  change  in  attitude  concerning  the 
Word  of  Wisdom— and  they  will  see  other 
changes,  too.    To  condemn  the  good  from 

JANUARY,  1945 


a  book  is  to  be  guilty  of  violation  of  one 
of  our  articles  of  faith:  ".  .  .  If  there  is  any- 
thing virtuous,  lovely,  or  of  good  report  or 
praiseworthy,  we  seek  after  these  things." 

Sir  James  Jeans  is  one  of  the  thinkers  of 
this  era.  Scientist  of  great  ability,  he  is  also 
philosopher,  and  from  his  book,  readers  will 
come  away  stimulated  to  try  to  make  this 
earth  what  it  should  and  could  be.  What 
Latter-day  Saint  can  fail  to  be  stirred  by 
these  words,  ".  .  .  the  main  message  of  astro- 
nomy is  one  of  hope  to  the  race  and  of  re- 
sponsibility to  the  individual — of  respon- 
sibility because  we  are  drawing  plans  and 
laying  foundations  for  a  longer  future  than 
we  can  well  imagine." 

That  the  book  has  won  deserved  popu- 
larity can  be  gleaned  from  the  fact  that  it 
has  been  translated  into  thirteen  languages 
and  has  passed  through  four  editions  and 
innumerable  reprints. — M.  C,  J. 

BRAVE  MEN 

{Ernie  Pyle.    Henry  Holt  and  Co.,  New 

York.    1944.    474  pages.    $3.00.) 

The  title  for  the  book  came  from  the  re- 
mark of  a  British  officer  who,  walking 
over  the  battlefield  just  as  action  finished, 
found  the  American  boys  still  lying  in  their 
foxholes,  their  rifles  grasped  in  firing  posi- 
tion in  their  dead  hands. 

In  the  book,  the  author  deals  with  the  in- 
vasions of  Sicily,  Italy,  and  Normandy.  And 
while  the  stories  are  grim  in  their  reality, 
they  are  livened  by  the  humor  with  which 
the  American  serviceman  has  punctuated 
his  courageous  exploits.  A  comforting  fac- 
tor in  the  book  is  that  careful  preparation  is 
made  months  before  a  major  movement  oc- 
curs, alKof  which  indicates  that  everything 
possible  is  being  done  to  assure  the  greatest 
success  to  our  armed  forces  with  the  least 
possible  cost  in  life. 

While  the  book  strikes  a  high  reporting 
note,  it  is  much  more  than  that,  for  Ernie 
Pyle  is  at  once  reporter  and  philosopher, 
and  over  and  above  all,  a  firm  believer  in 
the  power  of  the  common  man  to  make 
destiny  over  in  his  own  pattern — even 
though  that  pattern  may  cut  short  his  life. 

This  book  will  make  us  more  aware  of 
the  cost  of  freedom,  and  increase  our  deter- 
mination to  make  a  lasting  peace  which  can- 
not again  be  disrupted  by  the  selfishness  of 
a  few  falsely  ambitious  people. — M,  C.  J. 

COPPER— THE  RED  METAL 
(June  M.  Metcalfe.   Viking  Press,  New 
York.   1944.   104  pages.  $2.00.) 

Replete  with  pictures  of  copper  mines 
and  processes  in  mining  copper  from 
all  over  the  world,  this  book  is  written  in 
such  a  way  that  not  only  mining  but  also 
history  come  to  life  in  its  pages.  No  per- 
son picking  up  the  book  will  be  content 
until  he  has  read  it  completely,  and  when  he 
lays  it  aside,  he  will  leave  it  with  a  feeling 
of  genuine  respect  for  this  great  industry 
and  for  the  men  who  work  in  it. 

This  is  an  ideal  family  book,  one  that 
can  be  read  aloud  during  cozy  winter  eve- 
nings, and  from  which  each  member  of  the 
family  will  obtain  something  of  interest  and 
worth  in  the  reading. — M.  C.  J. 

PRAYER  FOR  A  CHILD 

(Rachel  Field.     Illustrated  by  Elizabeth 
Orton  Jones.    Macmillan  Company, 
New  York.   1944.   $1.50.) 

Rachel  Field  has  become  a  synonym  for 
something    good — to    both    adult    and 
child.  And  through  this  combination  of  poet 
{Concluded  on  page  42) 


Could  You 

Hefusea 

Child? 


npHIS  MONTH  America's  chil- 
dren— crippled,  healthy  and 
those  as  yet  unborn — are  calling 
to  you  for  help.  The  March  oi 
Dimes  is  the  country's  answer  to 
the  urgent  need  of  the  workers 
who  are  doing  so  much  to  dim- 
inish the  tragic  effects  of  Infantile 
Paralysis.  When  you  provide  for 
the  future  of  these  children  you 
are  making  a  constructive  con- 
tribution to  America's  future.  Join 
the  March  of  Dimes  this  month! 

This  Advertisement  Is 
Gladly  Contributed  by 


Ou 


r 


Number  One" Lab. 

The  Fels-Naptha  Plant  maintains  an  imposing  Research  Laboratory, 
equipped  with  the  usual  testing  paraphernalia  - 
and  the  usual  staff  of  'experts'. 

Here,  every  day,  Fels-Naptha  Soap  goes  on  trial.  When 
the  experts,  with  their  test  tubes  and  charts,  report 
"up  to  Fels-Naptha  Standard',  we  know 
we  haven't  been  bragging. 

But  our  Number  One  'Lab',  is  an  ordinary  home  laundry. 
The  'staff'  is  the  Lady  of  the  House.  Her  equipment  is 
a  washtub  or  washing  machine  and  a  bundle  of  soiled  clothes. 
When  she  puts  Fels-Naptha  Soap  on  trial, 
it  has  to  be  good — or  else. 

There  are  millions  of  these  'Home  Laboratories* 
in  the  United  States.  According  to  voluntary  reports, 
they  use  Fels-Naptha  because, 
for  practical  daily  purposes,  they  find 
it's  the  best  laundry  soap 
on  the  market. 

We'd  like  to  see  Fels-Naptha  Soap 
tested  in  your  laundry.  And 
we'd  also  like  to  have  your 
'Laboratory  Report'. 


FELS-NAPTHA  SW-banishesTattleTale  Gray" 

8 


THE • 

l\euaiou5  ^rttltudes 
OF 

NOTED  MEN 


s 


By  LEON  M.  STRONG 


ir  Isaac  Newton,  noted  English 
scientist  (1642-1727),  is  reported 
to  have  said : 


I  can  take  my  telescope  and  look  millions 
and  millions  of  miles  into  space,  but  I  can 
lay  it  aside  and  go  into  my  room,  shut  the 
door,  get  down  on  my  knees  in  earnest  pray- 
er, and  see  more  of  heaven  and  get  closer 
to  God  than  I  can  assisted  by  all  the  tele- 
scopes and  material  agencies  on  earth. 
(From  supplementary  material  for  L.D.S. 
Seminaries.) 

Lord  Kelvin,  famous  English  natural 
philosopher  (1824-1907) ,  is  reported  to 

have  said: 

Every  discovery  I  have  made  that  has 
contributed  to  the  benefit  of  man,  He  (the 
Lord)  has  given  me  in  answer  to  prayer. 
{ibid.) 

Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  of  telegraph 
fame  once  said,  as  it  is  written: 

Many  a  time  when  I  was  making  my  ex- 
periments in  my  laboratory  at  the  university 
I  would  come  to  a  standstill,  not  knowing 
what  to  do  next.  An  obstacle  would  present 
itself  that  seemed  to  be  insurmountable.  A 
mental  fog  would  cloud  my  mind  that  would 
not  clear  away.  But  during  such  times  I 
always  locked  my  doors,  knelt  down,  and 
prayed  for  light  and  help.  And  light  and 
help  invariably  came,  (ibid.) 

The  works  of  Henry  W.  Longfellow 
are  replete  with  allusions  to  God  and 
his  works.  Perhaps  the  following  is  one 
of  his  best: 

In  even  savage  bosoms 
There  are  longings,  yearnings,  strivings 
For  the  good  they  comprehend  not; 
And  their  feeble  hands  and  helpless 
Groping  blindly  in  the  darkness, 
Touch  God's  right  hand  in  that  darkness 
And  are  lifted  up  and  strengthened. 

(From  "Song  of  Hiawatha.") 

From  Francis  Bacon: 

A  little  philosophy  inclineth  man's  mind  to 
atheism,  but  depth  in  philosophy  bring eth 
men's  minds  about  to  religion.  {Bacon.  Re- 
ported in  Familiar  Quotations,  John  Bart- 
lett.) 

Thomas  Carlyle,  eminent  English 
writer,  has  said : 

Did  I  not  believe  that  an  intelligence  is  at 
the  heart  of  things,  my  life  on  earth  would 
be  intolerable.  (Thomas  Carlyle,  Science 
and  the  Scientific  Mind,  Laidlaw  and 
Gibbs.) 

And  this  from  Plato,  Greek  philoso- 
pher: 

To  escape  from  evil  we  must  be  made, 
as  far  as  possible,  like  God;  and  this  re- 
semblance consists  in  becoming  just,  and 
holy,  and  wise,    (ibid.,  p.  221.) 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


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WINTER  4  <2-   ^   Wanf.faarJ 

WINTER  is  sleigh  bells  and  wagon  wheels  creaking 
Over  the  snow  and  the  whistling  and  shrieking 
Of  ice-needled  winds  making  lacy-edged  furrows 
Over  furred  creatures  asleep  in  their  burrows. 

Winter  is  skiing  and  skating  and  sleighing, 
Corrals  full  of  bleating  and  mooing  and  neighing; 
Winter's  an  icicle  sharp  as  a  splinter, 
Firelight  and  apples  and  popcorn — um-m — winter! 

tograph  by  Harold  M.  Lambert 


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of  the   i^kurck  or  /4e5n5   L^kridt 
of  <=yLatter-aau  S^aintd 


s  the  day  nears,  made  holy  by  tradition  as 
the  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  our  Lord 
and  Savior  Jesus  Christ,  we  again  give  to 
all  the  Saints  in  whatever  land  they  are, 
our  greetings,  our  blessings,  and  our  love  in  the 
fellowship  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  May  the  Lord  be 
with  you  always. 

In  this  terrible  hour  of  earthwide  woe,  misery, 
and  death,  with  their  weight  of  sorrow  and  grief 
that  pour  in  upon  the  households  of  the  people,  we 
turn  to  the  Lord  as  the  source  of  the  only  true 
solace  to  aching  hearts  and  weary  souls.  For  He 
said  to  men  of  all  times,  "Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that 
labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest." 

This  is  an  hour  of  prayer. 

Obedient  to  the  occasion  we  especially  send  to 
you  mothers  who  have  lost  your  sons,  to  you  wives 
whose  husbands  have  been  killed,  to  you  orphans 
born  of  the  slaughter  of  war — in  whatever  land 
you  live  and  on  whatever  side  your  departed  loved 
ones  fought — the  sympathy  and  sorrow  of  our 
hearts,  and  we  humbly  pray  our  Heavenly  Father 
to  send  you  comfort  and  an  early  surcease  of  your 
grief.  With  deep  feelings  of  compassion  we  utter 
a  like  prayer  to  Him  that  He  will  sustain  and 
enhearten  you  who  are  crippled  and  maimed,  that 
He  will  close  and  make  whole  the  wounds  of  you 
who  are  hurt,  that  He  will  heal  you  who  are  sorely 
racked  with  pain  and  disease.  We  pray  our  Heav- 
enly Father  to  send  to  each  and  all  of  you,  whoever 
and  wherever  you  are,  you  who  mourn  and  you 
who  are  plagued  with  affliction,  the  healing  influ- 
ences of  His  Spirit,  to  bestow  upon  you  richly  of 
His  love  and  His  mercy,  that  you  may  be  made 
every  whit  whole  in  mind  and  body  and  spirit,  even 


as  in  His  wisdom  shall  seem  best  for  the  welfare  of 
your  souls. 

We  pray  for  the  men  and  women  now  in  the 
service  of  their  country,  in  whatever  land  they 
serve,  that  they  who  are  sinful  may  forsake  their  sins 
and  that  all  may  come  to  walk  in  paths  of  righteous- 
ness so  that  all  may  have  claim  upon  the  blessings 
and  mercies  of  the  Lord.  We  pray  that  all  may  so 
live  that  the  comforting  influence  of  His  Spirit  may 
be  their  constant  companion  even  in  their  darkest 
hours  of  dread  and  awful  experiences,  to  buoy 
them  up,  to  help  them  to  know  as  they  suffer  in  the 
depths  born  of  evil,  that  God  is  good  and  kind  and 
loving,  and  that  mankind  bring,  even  upon  them- 
selves, through  their  wickedness  the  cruel  afflictions 
that  are  poured  out  upon  them. 

We  ask  our  Heavenly  Father  to  bless  those  of  us 
who  are  at  home,  who  have  our  work  to  do  to  carry 
on  in  this  world  cataclysm,  and  especially  those  of 
us,  the  fathers  and  mothers,  whose  sons  still  fight  in 
the  battle  lines  of  the  world,  and  the  wives  amongst 
us  whose  husbands  fight  alongside  those  sons  in  their 
danger  and  hardship  and  sacrifice,  and  the  children 
over  whom  the  threat  of  orphanage  hangs  so  heavy, 
— we  humbly  pray  Him  to  bless  all  and  each  of 
them  that  in  the  day-by-day  dread  that  is  always 
with  them  lest  ill  news  shall  come,  they  may  feel 
near  to  riim,  feel  the  tenderness  of  His  mercy,  and 
the  warmth  of  His  love. 

So  we  pray  our  Heavenly  Father  to  bind  us  His 
people,  even  as  one,  by  the  holy  bonds  of  the  gospel, 
that  so  united  we  may  work  for  the  establishment 
of  righteousness  in  the  earth.  We  ask  Him  to  teach 
us  the  way  quickly  to  spread  the  truth  among  the 
peoples  of  the  world  that  the  love  of  Christ  may  fill 
their  hearts  and  rule  their  lives.  We  pray  Him  to 


10 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


PRESIDENT 
J.  REUBEN  CLARK,  JR. 


PRESIDENT 
HEBER  J.  GRANT 


PRESIDENT 
DAVID  O.  McKAY 


make  them  to  understand  that  to  know  Him  and 
Jesus  Christ  whom  He  didst  send  is  life  eternal,  to 
cause  them  to  receive  the  word  and  blessing  of  His 
Son: 

"Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give  unto 
you:  not  as  the  world  giveth,  give  I  unto  you.  Let 
not  your  heart  be  troubled,  neither  let  it  be  afraid." 

We  beseech  Him  to  plant  in  the  hearts  of  the 
nations  and  of  the  leaders  of  nations,  those  sanc- 
tifying truths  uttered  by  the  Master  on  the  Mount : 

Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor,  and  hate  thine  enemy. 

But  I  say  unto  you,  Love  your  enemies,  bless  them  that 
curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you,  and  pray  for  them 
which  despitefully  use  you,  and  persecute  you; 

That  ye  may  be  the  children  of  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven:  for  he  maketh  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the 
good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust. 

For  if  ye  love  them  which  love  you,  what  reward  have  ye? 
do  not  even  the  publicans  the  same? 

And  if  ye  salute  your  brethren  only,  what  do  ye  more  than 
others?    do  not  even  the  publicans  so? 

Be  ye  therefore  perfect,  even  as  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven  is  perfect. 

We  pray  our  Heavenly  Father  to  send  peace,  that 
this  wicked  and  vain  slaughter  of  His  children,  one 
by  the  other,  may  cease;  that  hate  may  leave  the 
hearts  of  men,  and  that  greed  and  avarice  and  am- 
bition and  lust  for  power  and  dominion  by  one  over 
the  other,  may  no  longer  abide  amongst  His  chil- 
dren. We  ask  our  Father  in  Heaven  to  bring  all  to 
understand  the  brotherhood  of  man  and  to  seek  to 
make  it  real,  to  fill  all  men  with  charity,  forbear- 
ance, mercy,  and  love. 

We  pray  Him  to  help  us  His  people  to  spread  the 


restored  gospel  that  all  men  may  know  and  under- 
stand that  He  is  our  Father,  that  Jesus,  His  only 
Begotten,  is  the  Redeemer  of  the  World,  the  First 
Fruits  of  the  Resurrection,  that  by  his  atonement 
every  one  born  on  earth  is  redeemed  from  the  fall 
of  Adam,  and  that  every  child  of  God  "may  be 
saved,  by  obedience  to  the  laws  and  ordinances  of 
the  Gospel." 

We  humbly  pray  Him  to  speed  the  accomplish- 
ment of  His  purposes,  that  this  Satan-inspired 
slaughter  of  His  children,  innocent  of  the  bringing 
on  of  this  conflict,  may  cease,  that  the  plans  of  the 
wicked  shall  come  to  naught,  that  Satan  may  soon 
be  bound,  and  that  "righteousness  shall  fill  the 
earth,  even  as  the  waters  cover  the  mighty  deep." 

Aware  of  the  weaknesses  of  the  flesh  and  the 
proneness  to  waywardness  of  His  children,  know- 
ing our  helplessness  as  we  stand  before  Him  save  He 
shall  guard  and  protect  us  as  held  in  the  hollow  of 
His  hand,  we  ask  all  these  blessings  in  deep  humility 
and  we  petition  for  His  mercy  and  His  love,  in  the 
name  of  His  Beloved  Son  Jesus  Christ,  in  whose 
name  we  are  taught  always  to  pray. 


jQa*n<W.7lVf<4>v 


First  Presidency 


JANUARY,  1945 


11 


"Mold  the  Iamb  of  M  Midi  Taketh 


Jesus  Christ  «  the  Redeemer  of  the  world,  and 

that  testimony  must  come  to  every  child  of 

God,  for  it  is  written  that  "every  knee  shall  bow 

and  every  tongue  confess  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ." 


Our  friends  of  the  air: 
Jesus,  returning  from  his  forty 
days  in  the  wilderness,  came  into 
the  midst  of  the  multitude  gathered  to- 
gether at  Bethabara  to  hear  John  and 
receive  of  his  baptism,  'whereupon  John 
proclaimed:  "Behold  the  Lamb  of  God, 
which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world."  The  next  day  Jesus  came 
again,  and  John  bore  further  witness, 
this  time  regarding  the  manifestation  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  at  the  baptism  of  Jesus, 
saying:  "And  I  saw,  and  bare  record 
that  this  is  the  Son  of  God."1 

So  solemnly  testified  John  to  the 
Jewish  world  and  to  all  men  born  on 
earth  in  whatever  time;  and  in  this  testi- 
mony is  bound  up  the  basic  truths  of 
Christian  faith  and  knowledge, — the 
identity  of  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  the 
fall  of  Adam,  and  the  atonement  for 


Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall 
all  be  made  alive."' 

These  testimonies  all  hold  but  one 
language, — that  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
Redeemer  of  the  world,  and  that  testi- 
mony must  come  to  every  child  of  God, 
for  it  is  written  that  "every  knee  shall 
bow,  and  every  tongue  confess  that 
Jesus  is  the  Christ."8 

HPomorrow  is  the  anniversary  of  the 
day  that  Christian  tradition  has 
fixed  as  the  day  of  the  birth  of  Jesus, 
this  Lamb  of  God,  so  foreordained  be- 
fore the  foundations  of  the  world  to 
atone  for  the  Fall  of  Adam. 

But  the  birth  of  the  Atoning  Sacrifice, 
the  Lamb  of  God,  had  also  been  foretold 
by  the  ancient  prophets  of  Israel.  Isaiah 
declared:  "...  Behold,  a  virgin  shall  con- 
ceive, and  bear  a  son,  and  shall  call  his 


PRESIDENT  J.  REUBEN  CLARK,  JR. 


Jn  these  days  when  antichrists  are  abroad,  just  as  Jesus  foretold  nearly  two 
thousand  years  ago,  denying  Jesus,  his  Sonship  and  Messiahship,  belittling 
things  of  the  Spirit  and  magnifying  all  the  pleasures  of  the  flesh,  it  is  fitting 
that  we  who  accept  the  gospel  of  Christ  should  declare  our  testimonies 
of  the  truth,  for  as  he  said:  ff.  .  .  ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth 
shall  make  you  free" 


Adam's  fall  by  Jesus  the  Christ,  the 
Only  Begotten  of  the  Father. 

But  John  was  not  alone  in  this  exact 
testimony  of  Christ  as  the  Lamb  of 
God,  the  Redeemer — and  I  shall  tell  my 
story  today  mostly  in  the  recorded 
language  of  God  the  Father,  of  Jesus 
the  Christ,  and  of  God's  servants  and 
prophets. 

Years  after  the  baptism,  John,  the 
Revelator,  was  to  speak,  under  divine 
inspiration,  of  the  ".  .  .  Lamb  slain  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world"2;  and  Peter 
declared  we  are  redeemed  "with  the 
precious  blood  of  Christ,  as  of  a  lamb 
without  blemish  and  without  spot :  who 
verily  was  foreordained  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world."8  While  Job 
cried  out  to  his  heckling  friends  in  an 
ecstasy  of  joy  and  triumph:  "...  I  know 
that  my  redeemer  liveth,  and  that  he 
shall  stand  at  the  latter  day  upon  the 
earth :  And  though  after  my  skin  worms 
destroy  this  body,  yet  in  my  flesh  shall 
I  see  God."*  Paul,  addressing  the 
Corinthians  in  that  great  sermon  on  the 
resurrection,  declared:  "For  since  by 
man  came  death,  by  man  came  also  the 
resurrection   of  the   dead.    For   as   in 

ijohn  1 :29,  34 
sRev.  13:8 
*I   Peter   1:19-20 
*Job   19:25-26 

12 


name  Immanuel .  .  ."7  which  being  inter- 
preted," says  Matthew,  "is,  God  with 
us."8  The  Psalmist  sang  of  him  as  be- 
gotten of  the  Father,*  and  spoke  also 
of  his  goodness  and  mercy  and  right- 
eousness, of  his  care  for  the  poor  and 
the  needy  whose  souls  he  would  save10; 
the  Psalmist  boasted  of  the  Messiah's 
strength  and  power,  of  his  justice  and 
judgment,  and  declared  that  through  him 
the  throne  of  David  should  endure  for- 
he  repeated  a  supplication  of 


ever 


told  in  graphic  detail  of  the  agony  on 
the  cross  even  to  Christ's  almost  des- 
pairing outcry,  when  all  had  forsaken 
him:  "My  God,  my  God,  why  hast 
thou  forsaken  me?"1* 

When  the  hour  was  near  for  Jesus  to 
come  to  earth  and  take  a  mortal  body, 
an  angel  told  Mary  she  should  bear  a 
son1*;  and  to  Joseph  the  husband  of 
Mary  he  revealed  that  the  son  should 
save  his  people  from  their  sins.1*  The 
unborn  John  bore  witness  to  the  pres- 


\Ve  declare  that  man  may  in  himself  overcome 
the  spiritual  death  by  so  living  and  observing 
the  commandments  of  God  that  he  may  ultimate- 
ly again  stand  and  live  in  the  presence  of  God. 


the  Lord  to  the  Father"  and  proclaimed 
the  Lord  a  priest  of  Melchizedek  who 
should  judge  among  the  heathen";    he 


15:21-22 
45:23;    Rom. 


BI   Cor, 
6Isaiah 
27:31;  D.  &  C.  88:104 
TIsaiah  7:14 
8Matt.   1:23 
9Ps.  2 

ioSee  Ps.  72 
uSee  Ps.  89 
^See    Ps.    102 
13See  Ps.  110 


14:11;    Phil.    2:10-11;    Mosiah 


ence  of  Deity  when  Mary  visited 
Elizabeth.17  On  this  hemisphere  Jesus 
himself  foretold  his  birth  as  of  the  next 
day.M  In  Palestine,  an  angel  announced 
the  birth  to  the  shepherds  tending  their 
flocks  on  the  hills,  while  a  multitude  of 
heavenly  voices  caroled,  "Glory  to  God 

"See  Ps.  22 
*5See  Luke  1:26-38 
"See  Matt.  1:18-25 
"See  Luke  1:39-56 
^See  III  Nephi  1:4-14 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


ikiau  the  Sin  of  the  World" 


"\A7e  i/o  //o/  */w;y  £is  resurrection; 
we  proclaim  it,  in  its  most  literal 
sense.    We  declare  that  Christ  took 
up  the  very  body  he  laid  down. 


By  PRESIDENT  J.  REUBEN  CLARK,  JR. 

Of  the  First  Presidency 

Delivered  over  KSL  and  the  Columbia  Church  of  the  Air,  from 
the  Salt  Lake  Tabernacle,  Sunday  morning, 
December  24,  1944,  at  11  a.m.,  M.W.T.  ' 


in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  good 
will  toward  men."1*  His  star  appeared 
in  the  heavens.20  Then  was  fulfilled  the 
great  prophecy  of  Isaiah:  "For  unto  us 
a  child  is  born,  unto  us  a  son  is  given: 
and  the  government  shall  be  upon  his 
shoulder:  and  his  name  shall  be  called 
Wonderful,  Counsellor,  The  mighty 
God,  The  everlasting  Father,  The 
Prince  of  Peace."21 

So  was  the  birth  of  the  Lamb  of  God 
foretold  long  before  and  chronicled  and 
witnessed  at  the  time. 

Who  this  person  is  who  came  to 
earth  thus  heralded  by  the  heavens,  is 
told  to  us  by  St.  John  in  the  mighty  pre- 
face to  his  gospel: 

In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the 
Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was 
God. 


given  to  Jesus,  the  carpenter  of  Naza- 
reth, by  the  scriptures;  we  accept  it 
without  cavil  or  reservation. 

We  cherish  in  our  hearts  the  witness 
which  God  himself  has  borne  of  his 
Son. 

We  recall  that  when  Jesus  came  up 
out  of  the  water,  after  John  had  bap- 
tized him  "to  fulfil  all  righteousness," 
the  Holy  Ghost  descended  upon  him, 
and  God  the  Father's  voice  came  from 
the  heavens,  declaring:  "...  This  is 
my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well 
pleased."24  We  acknowledge  that  the 
same  voice  and  the  same  message  came 
to  Peter,  James,  and  John,  as  Jesus  com- 
muned with  Moses  and  Elias  at  the  time 
of  the  Transfiguration.23    We   declare 


XSJe  do  not  deny  the  miraculous  in  Christ's  life; 
we  accept  it  as  the  most  natural  manifesta- 
tion of  the  power  and  authority  of  the  Son  of 
God,  whether  the  miracles  be  of  healings  or  those 
somethnes  called  "nature  miracles"  which  to  us 
testify  directly  of  his  creative  power. 


The  same  was  in  the  beginning  with  God. 

All  things  were  made  by  him;  and  with- 
out him  was  not  any  thing  made  that  was 
made.  .  .  . 

He  was  in  the  world,  and  the  world  was 
made  by  him,  and  the  world  knew  him 
not.  .  .  . 

And  the  Word  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt 
among  us,  (and  we  beheld  his  glory,  the 
glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,) 
full  of  grace  and  truth.22 

And  in  the  prayer  of  the  Great  High 
Priest,  Jesus  himself  besought  the  Fa- 
ther: "And  now,  O  Father,  glorify 
thou  me  with  thine  own  self  with  the 
glory  which  I  had  with  thee  before  the 
world  was."23 

HThus  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Only 
Begotten  of  the  Father,  the  Creator 
of  the  World  and  all  it  contains,  the 
Redeemer  of  its  people,  the  children  of 
God,  all  of  them,  the  Word  that  is  God. 
Nor  do  we  who  rejoice  in  these  wit- 
nesses and  their  testimonies  and  who 
are  blessed  with  a  pure  testimony  of  the 
truth  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  give  up  one 
hairsbreadth  of  that  full  divine  stature 

«>Luke  2:8-20 

2<>Matt.  2:1-12;  III  Nephi  1:21-22 

aIsaiah  9:6-7 

22John   1:1-3,    10,   14 

aijohn   17:5 

JANUARY,  1945 


that  the  same  voice  and  same  message 
came,  in  our  dispensation,  to  the  boy 
Prophet  Joseph  praying  in  the  woods. 

With  equal  fervor  we  keep  ever 
present  in  our  minds  the  testimonies  of 
Jesus  himself  about  himself. 

We  remember  that  when  in  the  tem- 
ple at  twelve,  he  said  to  his  mother  and 


out,  saying:  "...  Take  these  things 
hence:  make  not  my  Father's  house  an 
house  of  merchandise."27 

We  rejoice  in  the  contemplation  of 
the  words  of  Christ's  great  sermon  to 
Nicodemus,  a  "ruler  of  the  Jews"  who 
came  to  him  timidly  by  nightfall:  "For 
God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave 
his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever 
believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but 
have  everlasting  life.  For  God  sent  not 
his  Son  into  the  world  to  condemn  the 
world;  but  that  the  world  through  him 
might  be  saved"28;  and  likewise  we  have 
joy  and  see  salvation  in  his  great  dec- 
laration to  the  woman  of  Samaria:  ".  .  . 
I  that  speak  unto  thee  am"  the  Christ.** 

We  do  not  forget  that  while  at  the 
Feast  of  the  Tabernacle,  he  solemnly 
testified  to  those  about  him  in  the  tem- 
ple: ".  .  .  Ye  are  from  beneath;  I  am 
from  above:  ye  are  of  this  world;  I  am 
not  of  this  world.  ...  I  speak  to  the 
world  those  things  which  I  have  heard 
of  him.  .  .  .  When  ye  have  lifted  up  the 
Son  of  man,  then  shall  ye  know  that  I 
am  he,  and  that  I  do  nothing  of  myself; 
but  as  my  Father  hath  taught  me,  I 
speak  these  things"30;  nor  do  we  forget 
that  later  in  Jerusalem  as  he  taught  the 
parable  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  he  again 
testified:  "Therefore  doth  my  Father 
love  me,  because  I  lay  down  my  life, 
that  I  might  take  it  again.  No  man 
taketh  it  from  me,  but  I  lay  it  down 
of  myself.  I  have  power  to  lay  it 
down,  and  I  have  power  to  take  it 
again.    This  commandment  have  I  re- 


'J'o  the  millions  of  the  humble  and  honest  in 
heart  who  are  discouraged,  weary,  grief 
stricken,  despairing,  and  who  would  see  Jesus, 
and  who,  seeing  him,  would  know  him,  we  repeat 
the  tvords  spoken  by  Jesus  to  this  generation. 


Joseph,  who  had  sought  for  him  three 
days:  "How  is  it  that  ye  sought  me? 
wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my 
Father's  business?"26 

We  do  not  forget  that  when  he  first 
cleansed  the  temple  of  the  money 
changers  and  those  selling  therein  oxen 
and  sheep  and  doves,  he  drove  them 

2lMatt.  3:17;  Mark  1:11;  Luke  3:22 
^Matt.  17:5;  Mark  9:7;  Luke  9:35 
26Luke  2:49 


ceived  of  my  Father."31  Likewise  it  is 
in  our  memories  that  at  the  time  of  his 
arrest,  as  he  bade  Peter,  who  would 
have  used  force,  to  put  up  his  sword, 
Jesus  said:  "Thinkest  thou  that  I  can- 
not now  pray  to  my  Father,  and  he  shall 
(Continued  on  page  52) 

'"John   2:16 


^John  3:16-17 

""•John  4:26 

"John  8:23,  26,  28 

sijohn  10:17-18 


13 


The  froplirt  Joseph  Smith 


TTu's  address  was  presented  Sunday, 

December  10,   1944,  at  the  Logan 

L.D.S.  Institute  at  special  services 

commemorating  the  birth  o/  the 

Prophet  Joseph  Smith 


December  23,  1944,  will  mark  the 
one  hundred  thirty-ninth  anniver- 
sary of  the  birth  of  the  Prophet 
Joseph  Smith.  I  commend  the  faculty 
of  the  Logan  Institute  for  having 
planned  to  hold  a  special  annual  com- 
memorative of  this  great  man.  It  is  high- 


me  to  come  to  jail  with  you — and  do  you 
think  I  would  forsake  you  now?  But  I  will 
tell  you  what  I  will  do;  if  you  are  con- 
demned to  be  hung  for  treason,  I  will  be 
hung  in  your  stead,  and  you  shall  go  free. 
(Vol.  6,  page  616,  History  of  the  Church.) 

There  is  something  great  about  a  man 
who  can  so  impress  other  able,  sincere 
men  that  they  are  ready  to  die  with  him 
or  for  him.  As  with  the  Savior,  so  it  will 
be  with  Joseph  Smith,  God's  chosen 
servant — he  will  grow  in  greatness  and 
honor  as  the  centuries  pass. 

However,  it  is  of  Joseph  Smith  not 
only  as  a  great  man,  but  as  an  inspired 


There  is  something  great  about  a  man  who  can 
so  impress  other  able,  sincere  men  that  they 
are  ready  to  die  with  him  or  for  him. 


ly  fitting  that  they  do  this.  In  the  ultimate 
analysis  the  Logan  Institute  itself,  as 
other  Church  schools,  owes  its  very 
existence  to  the  revelations  given  to 
Joseph  Smith.  Furthermore,  such  a  serv- 
ice is  fitting,  because  all  are  profited  by 
the  contemplation  of  true  greatness, 
especially  when  that  greatness  is  the 
result  of  inspiration  from  the  Lord. 
Carlyle  has  aptly  said : 

Great  men  taken  up  in  any  way  are  profit- 
able company.  We  cannot  look  however 
imperfectly  upon  a  great  man  without  gain- 
ing something  by  him.  He  is  the  living 
light-fountain  which  it  is  good  and  pleasant 
to  be  near.  The  light  which  enlightens, 
which  has  enlightened  the  darkness  of  the 
world;  and  this  not  as  a  kindled  lamp  only, 
but  rather  as  a  natural  luminary  shining  by 
the  gift  of  heaven;  a  flowing  light-fountain 
as  I  say,  of  native,  original  insight,  of  man- 
hood and  heroic  nobleness;  in  whose  radi- 
ance all  souls  feel  that  it  is  well  with  them. 

Joseph  Smith  was  just  such  a  "light- 
fountain."  Great  men  have  ability  to 
see  into  the  heart  of  things.  They  dis- 
cern truth.  "They  change  the  currents 
of  men's  thoughts,  and  set  a  new  fashion 
in  the  world.  Men  gather  round  them 
and  criticize  them,  point  out  where  they 
fall  short,  and  show  how  the  thing  could 
have  been  better  done  in  some  other 
way;  but  the  critics  die  and  are  forgot- 
ten, and  the  great  man  lives  on  forever." 

There  were  those  who  hated  Jesus 
when  He  walked  as  a  man  on  the  shores 
of  Galilee,  and  there  were  others  who 
felt  as  Thomas  did  when  he  said:  "Let 
us  go  and  die  with  him." 

Likewise,  there  were  those  who 
scorned  Joseph  Smith  and  scoffed  at  his 
teachings  when  he  declared  that  he  had 
received  a  revelation  from  the  Lord. 
There  were  others  who  loved  him  and 
felt  as  Willard  Richards: 

Brother  Joseph,  you  did  not  ask  me  to 
cross  the  river  with  you — you  did  not  ask 
me  to  come  to  Carthage — you  did  not  ask 

14 


servant  of  the  Lord  that  I  desire  to 
speak  on  this  occasion.  Indeed,  Joseph 
Smith's  greatness  consists  in  divine  in- 
spiration. 

As  Evidenced  in  Harmony  of 

Teachings  With  Those 

of  Jesus 

(""'harles  A.  Ellwood,  author  of 
^  Man's  Social  Destiny,  printed  in 
1929,  wrote  that— 

.  .  .  the  religion  of  the  future  cannot  be 
based  upon  historical  Christianity,  but  must, 
in  order  to  avoid  misunderstanding,  go  back 
to  the  teachings  of  Christ  as  recorded  in 
the  gospel. 

Said  the  Prophet  Joseph  one  hundred 

years  previously: 

The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  was  organized 
in  accordance  with  the  order  of  the  Church 
as  recorded  in  the  New  Testament. 

Nobody  can  study  critically  and  in- 
telligently the  restored  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ  without  being  deeply  impressed 
with  the  harmony  of  the  teachings  with 


By  PRESIDENT 
DAVID  O.  McKAY 

Of  the  First  Presidency 


PRESIDENT  DAVID  O.  McKAY 

tion.  He  asserts  that  this  Power  that 
makes  for  truth,  for  beauty  and  for 
goodness  is  not  less  personal  than  we. 
Continues  Dr.  Dinsmore: 

This  leap  of  faith  is  justified  because  God 
cannot  be  less  than  the  greatest  of  his  works, 
the  Cause  must  be  adequate  to  the  Effect. 
When,  therefore,  we  call  God  personal,  we 
have  interpreted  him  by  the  loftiest  symbol 
we  have.  He  may  be  infinitely  more.  He  can- 
not be  less.  When  we  call  God  a  Spirit,  we 
use  the  clearest  lens  we  have  to  look  at  the 
Infinite.  As  Herbert  Spencer  has  well  said: 
"The  choice  is  not  between  a  personal  God 
and  something  lower,  but  between  a  person- 
al  God  and   something   higher." 


On  these  three  fundamentals  of  religion,  there 
can  be  little  or  no  doubt  about  the  harmony 
of  the  teachings  of  the  Restored  Church  with 
those  of  the  Savior — the  Doctrine  of  God;  his 
Doctrine  of  Sin  and  Salvation;  and  the  Doctrine 
of  Immortality. 


those  given  by  the  Lord  and  Savior 
Himself  when  He  was  on  the  earth  with 
His  disciples.  Consider,  for  example, 
the  Prophet's  revelation  concerning  the 
Creator — God  as  an  intelligent  Being, 
one  who  is,  as  Jesus  taught,  "Our  Fa- 
ther in  heaven."  Applying  the  words  of 
a  distinguished  writer  (Charles  A. 
Dinsmore  of  Yale),  Joseph  Smith 
makes  one  bold  and  glorious   affirma- 


Joseph  Smith's  doctrine  that  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  only  Begotten  of  the  Fa- 
ther, the  Savior  of  the  world,  is  identi- 
cal with  the  teachings  of  Jesus  Himself 
and  His  apostles. 

So  also  is  his  doctrine  of  the  persist- 
ence of  personality  after  death. 

On  these  three  fundamentals  of  re- 
ligion, there  can  be  little  or  no  doubt 
about  the  harmony  of  the  teachings  of 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


#n  Doctrine  and  Organization 


Joseph,  the  seer,  grasping  the  eternal  nature  of 
love  as  the  divinest  attribute  of  the  Jouman  soul, 
as  an  everlasting  attribute  of  the  spirit,  revealed 
the  eternity  of  the  marriage  covenant,  a  doctrine 
so  beautiful,  so  logical,  so  far-reaching  in  its  sig- 
nificance that  if  it  were  adopted  in  its  entirety, 
many  of  the  present  evils  of  society  might  be 
abolished. 


the  Restored  Church  with  those  of  the 
Savior— the  doctrine  of  God;  His  doc- 
trine of  sin  and  salvation;  and,  the  doc- 
trine of  immortality. 

The  same  harmony  is  found  in  the 
teachings  of  other  principles  of  the 
gospel  such  as  faith,  repentance,  bap- 
tism, laying  on  of  hands  for  the  gift  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  ordination  to  the 
priesthood,  his  teachings  on  "knowl- 
edge, temperance,  godliness,  brotherly 
kindness,  charity,"  etc. 

Predestination 

Tt  is  evidence  of  greatness  when  a  man 
"chooses  the  right  with  invincible  res- 
olution"; it  is  evidence  of  inspiration 
when  he  decides  authoritatively  ques- 
tions that  have  been  misunderstood  for 
ages  by  leading  thinkers  and  theologians 
of  the  world.  One  such  teaching  was  the 
problem  of  predestination.  Said  the 
Westminster  Confession : 

Election  to  eternal  life  is  not  founded  on 
foresight  of  faith  and  obedience,  but  it  is  a 
sovereign  act  of  God's  mercy  whereby  ac- 
cording to  the  counsel  of  his  own  will  some 
men  and  angels  are  predestinated  to  ever- 
lasting life  and  others  foreordained  to  ever- 
lasting death. 

These  angels  and  men,  thus  predestinated 
and  foreordained,  are  particularly  and  un- 
changeably designed;  and  their  number  is 
so  certain  and  definite  that  it  cannot  be 
either  increased  or  diminished. 

Those  of  mankind  that  are  predestinated 
unto  life,  God,  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world  was  laid,  according  to  his  eternal  and 
immutable  purpose,  and  the  secret  counsel 
and  good  pleasure  of  his  will,  hath  chosen 
Christ  unto  everlasting  glory,  out  of  his 
mere  free  grace  and  love,  without  any  fore- 
sight of  faith  or  good  works,  or  persever- 
ance in  either  of  them,  or  any  other  thing  in 
the  creature  as  conditions,  or  causes  moving 
him  thereunto;  and  all  to  the  praise  of  his 
glorious  grace. 

This  doctrine  is  satirized  by  Robert 
Burns  in  these  words: 

O  Thou  that  in  the  Heavens  doth  dwell, 
Wha,  as  it  pleases  best  thysel, 
Sends  ane  to  Heaven  an'  ten  to  Hell 
A'  for  thy  glory, 
And  no'  for  onie  guid  or  ill 
They've  done  before  thee! 


Prophet  Joseph  Smith  emphatically  de- 
nounced the  doctrines  as  false  and  said : 

To  every  man  is  given  an  inherent  power 
to  do  right  or  to  do  wrong.  In  this  he  has 
his  free  agency.  He  may  choose  the  right 
and  obtain  salvation,  or  he  may  choose  evil 
and  merit  abomination,  but  one  man  is  not 
predestined  to  do  evil  and  another  pre- 
destined to  do  good. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  seventy 
years   after   Joseph    Smith    made   that 


Not  so  with  the  Prophet  Joseph 
Smith!  The  advocates  of  infant  bap- 
tism taught  regarding  little  children : 

Infants  who  come  into  the  world  are  not 
only  destitute  of  knowledge,  righteousness, 
and  holiness,  but  have  a  natural  inclination 
to  evil  and  only  evil. 

The  poet  Burns,  referring  to  people 
who  are  in  Hades,  mentions  "Twa'  span 
lang  unchristened  bairns,"  and  even  to 
this  day  six  denominations  baptize  in- 
fants. Boldly  and  fearlessly,  and  speak- 
ing as  one  having  assurance  that  he  is 
right,  the  Prophet  Joseph  said:  "Little 
children  are  holy  and  are  sanctified 
through  the  atonement  of  Jesus  Christ." 
In  1902,  in  that  same  Presbyterian  As- 
sembly to  which  I  before  referred,  the 
Creed  was  revised  to  read:  "All  who 
die  in  infancy  are  chosen  of  God  and 
saved  through  his  Spirit."  And  Henry 
Van  Dyke,  commenting  upon  that,  said : 
"The  Presbyterians  today  believe  all 


statement,  the  Presbyterians  in  general      who  die  in  infancy  are  saved  by  Jesus 
assembly  on  May  22,  1 902,  by  a  vote  of      Christ. 


six  hundred  to  two,  adopted  the  unani 
mous  report  of  a  revision  committee 
which  had  been  at  work  on  the  subject 
two  years.    This  is  what  they  say: 

Following  this  broad  statement  are  two 
overtures,  the  first  disclaims  any  doctrine 
of  predestination  and  asserts  clearly  that 
God  loves  all  mankind  and  does  not  rejoice 
in  the  death  of  any  sinner  and  that  no  man 
is  condemned  except  on  the  basis  of  his  own 
sin. 

Henry  Van  Dyke  said  in  1902: 

The  Presbyterian  Church  today  does  not 
believe   that   some   men   are   created   to  be 


Universal  Salvation  (  Baptism 
for  the  Dead) 

"The  Prophet's  penetrating  insight  into 
■"■    eternal  truth  and  justice  is  seen  also 
in  his  teaching  regarding  universal  sal- 
vation. 

"Except  a  man  be  born  of  the  water 
and  of  the  spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  God."  So  spake  Jesus 
to  Nicodemus;  and  to  His  apostles  He 
said : 

...  go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the 
gospel  to  every  creature.   He  that  believeth 


P^  careful  analysis  of  the  organization  of  the 
Church  reveals  the  fact  that  it  imposes  all  the 
strength  of  a  strong  central  government,  and 
every  virtue  and  necessary  safeguard  of  a  democ- 
racy. 


saved  and  others  to  be  damned,  and  to  guard 
against  misapprehension  on  the  subject,  I 
wish  to  say  unmistakably  that  God  has  not 
put  any  barrier  between  any  human  soul's 
salvation. 

Infant  Baptism 

Cince  the  days  of  Luther,  infant  bap- 
*^  tism  has  been  another  moot  ques- 
tion. Justification  by  faith  only,  as 
taught  by  the  early  reformers,  would 
logically  lead  to  a  rejection  of  infant 


and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved; 
believeth  not  shall  be  damned. 
15,  16.) 


but  he  that 
(Mark  16:. 


Luther,  Melanchthon,  Zwingli,  John  cepting  the  principle  of  infant  baptism. 

Knox,  have  all  debated  this  question,  His  judgment  led  him  to  reject  it,  but  the 

and  Protestant  churches  from  their  day  "extravagances"   of   the   people   made 

to  this  have  wavered  concerning  it.  The  him  yield  and  he  accepted  it. 

JANUARY,  1945     '-        ' 


Accepting  these  statements  as  true, 
as  they  are,  zealous,  but  misguided 
Christians  have  condemned  to  eternal 
punishment  all  who  have  died  without 
confessing  belief  in  Christ,  or  having 
been  buried  with  him  in  baptism. 

To  illustrate :  A  Chinese  student, 
returning  to  his  homeland,  having  gr ad- 
baptism.  Zwingli  himself  at  the  begin-  uated  from  one  of  our  leading  colleges, 
ning  of  his  career  as  a  reformer  doubted  was  in  conversation  with  a  Christian 
the  efficacy  of  infant  baptism,  but  note  minister,  also  en  route  to  China.  When 
this:  "The  extravagances  of  the  Ana-  this  minister  urged  the  truth  that  only 
baptists  at  Zurich  confirmed  him  in  ac-  through  acceptance  of  Christ's  teach- 
ings can  any  man  be  saved,  the  intelli 


gent  Chinese  said:    "Then  what  about 
my  ancestors  who  never  had  an  oppor- 
{Continued  on  page  45) 

15 


A   MORMON    WIFE 


^Jke  oLiw  J^>tom 


AUGUSTA  WINTERS  GRANT  AS  SHE  APPEARED 
AT  ABOUT  EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  AGE 


III 

Augusta  Goes  Away  to  School 

When  Augusta  had  taken  advan- 
tage of  all  the  educational 
opportunities  her  home  town 
afforded,  her  greatest  ambition  was  to 
go  away  to  school.  "In  this  my  parents 
encouraged  me,  although  the  townsfolk 
dubiously  shook  their  heads  and  proph- 
esied that  'Oscar  Winters  was  going  to 
spoil  that  girl.'  '  She  went  with  her 
older  sister,  Delia,  to  Provo  to  attend 
what  was  then  the  Timpanogos  Univer- 
sity— forerunner  of  Brigham  Young 
University.  Although  her  parents  al- 
ways encouraged  her  in  her  ambition, 
they  had  no  ready  money  to  pay  for  her 
education,  so  Augusta  would  go  to 
school  one  year  and  teach  the  next,  sav- 
ing the  greater  part  of  the  money  earned 
to  help  pay  her  tuition. 

It  was  at  this  time  when  she  was  six- 
teen that  Augusta  commenced  writing 
her  journal;  and  of  the  place  in  which 
they  lived  while  in  Provo,  she  records : 
"The  room  we  sleep  in  is  rather  open — 
no  fire  in  the  room  ever.  We  can  see  the 
stars  shining  through  an  open  place  in 
the  roof.  We  take  a  bath  with  the  tem- 
perature about  down  to  zero.  In  the  sit- 
ting room  it  is  more  cozy.  We  are  very 
comfortable  here,  although  we  have  to 
chop  our  own  wood,  but  that  is  good 
exercise  for  us  and  keeps  us  from  hav- 
ing dyspepsia — probably.  We  have  one 
stick  that  we  have  chopped  on  nights 
and  mornings  for  a  week,  but  failing  to 
make  much  impression  on  it  concluded 
to  bring  it  in  and  burn  it  off.  It  makes 
a  cheerful  fire."  They  rented  the  room 
from  friends  and  paid  for  it  in  produce 
supplied  by  their  father. 

In  order  to  get  their  own  breakfast, 
do  household  tasks,  and  get  off  in  time 
for  school,  it  was  necessary  for  the  girls 
to  arise  at  5:30  a.m.    It  is  doubtful  if 

16 


they  could  have  stood  the  grind  had  it 
not  been  for  the  frequent  encourage- 
ment that  traveled  across  "Provo 
Bench"  in  their  father's  wagon  in  the 
shape  of  good  things  to  eat  prepared  by 
their  loving  mother.  And  week  ends 
they  often  went  home  with  their  father, 
although  it  was  terribly  cold  as  they 
rode  across  the  "bench." 

"We  always  had  to  get  out  and  walk 
up  the  sand  hills  and  oh,  the  piercing 
cold  winds  from  Provo  Canyon  as  we 
traveled  across  this  bleak  ten  miles. 
And  Father — how  many,  many  times 
he  traveled  this  hard,  cold  way  that 
winter,  driving  his  team  with  hands 
nearly  frozen  to  bring  us  supplies  of 
rosy  apples  and  Mother's  home-cooked 
goodies — mince  pies,  doughnuts,  bread, 
roasts,  chickens,  etc.  How  our  par- 
ents had  to  sacrifice  for  their  children 
to  get  an  education! 

"About  Provo  Bench  Father  used  to 
say,  'You  will  see  the  day  when  the 
whole  of  this  bench  will  be  settled  with 
houses,  orchards,  and  gardens  in  one 
continuous  stretch  along  the  whole 
way.'  He  often  prophesied  in  this  way, 
and  then  at  the  seeming  absurdity  of  it 
he  would  say  with  a  laugh,  'Do  you  be- 
lieve it?  I  don't.'  For  we  could  hardly 
imagine  such  a  transformation  when 
there  wasn't  a  single  house  along  the 
way." 

The  day  following  her  arrival  at  the 
Timpanogos  University,  Augusta  re- 
corded in  her  journal:  "I  shall  endeavor 
to  improve  every  moment,"  and  later,  "I 
am  getting  along  fine  with  my  lessons 
and  like  to  study."  Still  there  were 
many  times  when  all  thought  of  lessons 
was  thrown  to  the  wind.  This  is  amply 
proved  by  such  entries  as  this:  "We 
went  to  a  party,  danced  till  four  a.m." 
(And  this,  by  the  way,  is  a  story  she 
didn't  repeat  to  her  granddaughters. ) 

In  those  days  a  girl  was  not  thought 
popular  unless  she  had  numerous  pro- 
posals. Mother  received  her  first  offer 
of  marriage  when  she  was  only  seven- 
teen (which  was  considered  a  marriage- 
able age  in  those  days)  but  was  too 
bashful  to  record  it  in  her  diary.  The 
young  man,  not  dreaming  of  a  refusal, 
told  her  to  take  all  the  time  she  wanted 
to  make  up  her  mind.  "But,"  she  says, 
with  spirit,  "I  didn't  need  any  time  to 
decide  that  question." 

From  others  I  have  heard  that  as  a 
young  woman,  my  mother  had  the  un- 
usual combination  of  an  olive  com- 
plexion, dark  brown  hair  and  blue-gray 
eyes  with  black  lashes.  These  "Winters' 
eyes,"  noted  for  their  loveliness,  were 
shared  by  her  sisters,  and  many  a  swain 
fell  a  prey  to  their  fascination.  Refused 
by  one  sister,  a  beau  could  easily  trans- 
fer his  affections  to  another,  and  this 


& 


MARY  GRANT 
JUDD 

DAUGHTER  OF  PRESIDENT 

HEBER  J.  AND  AUGUSTA  WINTERS 

GRANT 


was  the  case  with  "Joe"  who,  rejected 
by  Augusta,  proffered  his  hand  and 
heart  to  Delia. 

The  second  proposal  happened  under 
the  old  apple  tree  at  the  garden  gate, 
and  while  it  was  in  progress  the  young- 
er sisters  listened  shamelessly  in  their 
little  room  under  the  eaves  where  they 
were  preparing  for  bed.  "When  Delia 
said,  'This  is  so  sudden,'  or  something 
to  that  effect,  he  asked,  'What  do  you 
think  I've  been  coming  up  here  so 
promptly  for,  every  Sunday  evening?* 
Poor  Joe!  Two  refusals  from  one  fami- 
ly were  calculated  to  take  away  some  of 
his  conceit.  Who  was  it  said,  'Conceit 
— the  greatest  gift  of  God  to  little  men'? 
Joe  was  little,  and  he  was  conceited." 

There  was  one  particular  admirer  of 
the  sisters  who  planned  his  campaign 
by  keeping  them  guessing.  He  must 
have  understood  feminine  curiosity,  for 
Augusta  questioned  her  diary:  "Which 
one  does  he  come  to  see,  Delia,  Susie, 
or  me?"  Perhaps  if  he  had  been  more 
intriguing,  she  might  have  tried  to  find 
the  answer;  but  he  seems  to  have  been 
somewhat  dull;  so  leaving  him  to  the 
mercy  of  her  sisters,  she  left  him  sitting 
stiffly  in  the  parlor  and  went  to  bed. 

In  the  spring,  the  sisters  returned  to 
Pleasant  Grove,  enthusiastic  over  at- 
tending school  away  from  home  and 
imbued  with  the  idea  of  a  second  year 
at  Timpanogos  University. 

But  it  was  found  to  be  out  of  the  ques- 
tion. The  eighth  child  that  frail  little 
Mary-Ann  Winters  brought  into  the 
world  was  about  to  make  its  appear- 
ance. In  September  a  sweet  baby  girl, 
Helen-Mar,  joined  the  household.  Her 
brother,  Arthur  Ray,  but  two  years 
older  had  come  to  fill  the  empty  place  in 
his  mother's  heart  four  years  after  little 
Nathan  had  been  laid  to  rest  under  the 
apple  tree  in  the  "back  lot." 

Little  Helen-Mar,  being  Delia's  jun- 
ior by  nineteen  years  and  Augusta's  by 
seventeen,  came  to  hold  in  the  hearts  of 
the  older  girls  a  place  more  nearly  re- 
sembling that  of  a  daughter  than  that  of 
a  sister. 

Mary-Ann  depended  more  and  more 
upon  her  capable  daughter  Delia,  who, 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


of  Augusta  Winters  Grant 


with  the  able  supervision  of  Grand- 
mother Pratt,  now  assumed  many  of  the 
family  duties.  Delia  developed  into  a 
splendid  cook  and,  even  at  that  early 
day,  evinced  those  tendencies  which,  in 
later  life,  enabled  her  to  carry  through 
to  complete  success  numerous  projects 
of  a  business  nature.  She  became  an 
outstanding  woman  among  her  sex,  and 
in  many  of  her  ideas  was  far  ahead  of 
her  time.  Her  undertakings,  because  of 
the  benefits  they  brought  to  numerous 
other  women,  were  in  the  final  result 
philanthropic. 

But  Augusta  was  not  found  wanting 
either.  When  the  elder  sister  went  to 
Salt  Lake  to  conference,  Augusta  re- 
cords that  she  cooked  and  served  to 
the  threshers  the  first  meal  she  had  pre- 
pared all  by  herself.  They  praised  her 
cake  and  biscuits  which  was  highly  elat- 
ing to  the  young  cook. 

And  happiness  supreme!  When  Delia 
returned  from  Salt  Lake,  she  brought 
with  her  a  new  organ  which  she  and 
Augusta  paid  for  at  the  rate  of  ten 
dollars  a  month.  This  was  the  first  or- 
gan in  town  and  for  a  long  time  the 
only  one.  When  "Uncle  Moroni"  came 
down  at  Christmas  time,  he  taught 
Augusta  how  to  play  it,  and  with  this 
slight  preparation,  and  what  she  picked 
up  herself,  she  soon  became  the  music 
teacher  of  the  town. 

When  my  mother  was  eighteen  years 
old,  her  father  sold  a  yoke  of  oxen  and 
gave  each  child  ten  dollars  to  invest  in 
the  new  cooperative  store  in  Pleasant 
Grove,  and  this  when  ready  money  was 
almost  as  scarce  as  the  proverbial  "hen's 
teeth."  Thus  the  young  people,  besides 
being  impressed  by  the  generosity  of 
their  father,  were  inspired  by  his  con- 
fidence in  them  and  learned  something 
of  the  handling  of  money.  But  let  my 
mother  tell  the  story: 

"The  stock  advanced  quite  rapidly 
and  with  the  new  year,  I  begged  to  be 
allowed  to  take  my  share  out,  now 
amounting  to  $17.50,  and  go  to  school 
for  one  term  at  the  Deseret  University 
(as  it  was  then  called),  in  Salt  Lake 
City.  My  parents  made  no  objection 
though  they  could  not  afford  to  give 
me  any  more  money  at  that  time.  There 
were  six  of  us  children  in  the  family  by 
then,  and  I  was  not  the  oldest.  So  I 
started  off  with  my  seventeen  dollars 
and  fifty  cents.  And  this  is  how  I  spent 
it: 

"For  tuition,  six  dollars,  my  course 
including  every  subject  I  was  advanced 
enough  to  take  at  that  time;  books,  six 
fifty;  I  paid  my  tithing  then  and  always 
thereafler,  so  I  was  left  with  not  quite 
five  dollars  for  incidentals. 

"I  had  only  one  dress,  a  red  and  black 
plaid  flannel  that  Delia  had  made  for 

JANUARY,  1945 


me  over  a  year  before  in  Provo  and  I 
wore  it  the  whole  time,  and  when  it  be- 
gan to  wear  out  in  the  front  I  bought 
some  calico  and  made  an  apron  to  wear 
over  it  to  finish  out  the  ten  weeks,  and 
then  I  went  home." 

Perhaps  her  struggle  to  go  to  school 
has  something  to  do  with  her  apprecia- 
tion of  it  and  is  one  reason  why  she  re- 
membered so  much  that  she  learned. 
At  any  rate,  whenever  her  family  want 
to  know  the  correct  spelling  of  a  word 
or  its  exact  meaning,  they  don't  look  in 
the  dictionary;  they  just  "ask  Mother." 
She,  however,  gives  credit  to  the  meth- 
ods of  early  days  which,  in  her  opinion, 
were  more  thorough  and  "seemed  to 
produce  better  students  than  our  present 
system  that  turns  out  college  graduates 
who  can't  spell  'raisin'  or  'separate'!" 

Augusta  was  delighted  beyond  meas- 
ure with  her  new  environment,  and 
wrote:  "I  love  to  go  to  school."  There 
were  opportunities  to  be  enjoyed  in  Salt 
Lake  that  Provo  could  not  have  af- 
forded her.  Entries  such  as  these  were 
not  uncommon  in  the  diary:  "Three 
seats  for  the  theater  every  Monday 
night.  Saw  John  McCullough  Sawtelle, 
Miss  A.  Adams  (mother  of  the  famous 
Maude).  Saw  Romeo  and  Juliet;  also 
The  Gladiator  and  many  other  plays. 
The  seats  come  to  Mrs.  Cannon 
through  The  Deseret  News,  her  hus- 
band being  the  editor  of  it,  and  she  be- 
ing unable  to  go  out  this  winter,  gives 
them  to  me." 

When  asked  who  went  with  her  on 
these  occasions,  Mother  replied,  "I  in- 


vited my  chum,  Nina  Farr,  who  lived  on 
the  other  side  of  the  block.  But  do  you 
think  I  would  ask  my  cousin,  Thone, 
who  lived  just  across  the  street,  though 
he  often  took  me  to  parties,  and  I  am 
sure  would  have  been  delighted  to  es- 
cort us?  I  couldn't  think  of  it;  that  would 
have  been  too  forward;  so  the  third 
ticket  had  to  be  wasted." 

Having  pioneered  the  way,  and 
proved  that  it  could  be  done,  Augusta 
had  little  trouble  the  following  winter 
in  persuading  her  parents  to  allow  her 
two  sisters,  Delia  and  Susie,  to  come  to 
Salt  Lake  with  her,  where  all  three  were 
soon  happily  ensconced  in  the  George 
Q.  Cannon  home  where  Augusta  had 
stayed  the  preceding  winter.  President 
Cannon's  niece  from  St.  George,  Anna 
Maria  Woodbury,  was  also  there.  "I 
fear,"  says  my  mother  referring  to  that 
time,  "that  Aunt  Martha's  patience  must 
have  been  tried  many  times,  for  we 
were  lively  girls." 

There  seemed  to  be  nothing  in  reason 

chat  the  girls  weren't  willing  to  do  in 

order  to  keep  on  with  their  schooling. 

( Concluded  on  page  34 ) 


LEFT  TO  RIGHT,  FRONT  ROW:  DELIA  WIN- 
TERS, PAULINA  ELIZA  BROWN.  HELEN  ALEX- 
ANDER, AND  LAURA  LARSON,  BACK  ROW: 
EMMA  LARSON,  AUGUSTA  WINTERS,  SUSIE 
WINTERS,  SUSAN  BROWN;  SEATED:  ANNIE 
LARSON. 


MAN'S   ETERNAL 


m 


a 


If  men  die,  shall  they  cease  to  live?" 
Since  the  beginning  of  human  his- 
tory this  question  has  been  asked 
and  written  about.  As  to  the  sources 
which  treat  of  this  question  there  is  a 
vast  reservoir  of  wisdom  which  took 
shape  with  the  advent  of  man  upon  the 
earth.  From  the  historical  point  of 
view,  we  have  no  documents  whatever 
if  we  go  back  a  greater  distance  than 
five  or  six  thousand  years,  and  no  one 
can  tell,  says  Maeterlinck,  the  Belgian 
historian,  how  the  ancient  religions 
were  founded.  "When  we  become 
aware  of  them,  we  find  them  already 
complete  in  their  broad  outlines  and 
principles."  Not  only  are  they  com- 
plete, but  the  farther  back  we  go,  the 
more  perfect  they  are,  the  more  un- 
adulterated, the  more  closely  related  to 
the  loftiest  speculations  of  our  modern 
times.     Rudolph    Steiner,    a    German 

~~L,-.1«~.     „^„rn    ^U»j.   *~.Un£   ,-,.~    ......  J    a-_    iL« 

.luiuiai,   sap   tiiaL    wuau    we;    icuu   111    liic 

Vedas,  the  Hindu  scriptures,  gives  us 
only  a  faint  idea  of  the  sublime  doctrines 
of  the  ancient  teachers,  and  even  these 
are  not  in  their  original  form.  It  seems 
that  the  more  ancient  the  texts,  the 
purer,  and  the  more  awe-inspiring  are 
the  doctrines  which  they  reveal.  The 
texts  which  we  possess  are  the  sacred 
books  of  India  which  corroborate  in 
teachings  those  of  Egypt  and  Persia. 
To  the  western  world,  these  documents 
have  become  known  only  within  the 
past  century. 

It  is  certain  that  no  religion,  whether 
it  be  of  God  or  human  theory  has 
swayed  the  thought  of  mankind  unless 
it  has  discussed  the  "immortality  of  the 
soul."  All  are  agreed  that  the  spirit 
survives  after  death.  It  is  quite  natural 
that  life  in  the  hereafter  is  differently 
interpreted  as  to  conditions,  yet  death 
does  not  end  our  existence,  for  man 
lives  eternally.  The  conviction  of  im- 
mortality is  and  always  has  been  uni- 
versal. Death  is  the  "entrance  to  a 
higher  life." 

Egyptian  Conceptions  of 
Immortality 

4irT'o  the  Egyptian,"  says  Sir  Flinders 
Petrie  of  the  University  of  Lon- 
don, "immortality  was  an  axiom  of 
life."  In  the  earliest  graves  there  is  pro- 
vision for  the  future  life.  The  Egyptian 
looked  on  death  as  the  going  forth  "into 
a  garden  after  illness,  or  returning  to 
the  house  of  God  after  captivity."  He 
recognized  the  illumination  or  intelli- 
gence that  enlightened  him,  and  the 
many  tombs  found  in  the  Nile  valley 
are  the  burial  places  of  the  body  for  the 
preservation  of  which  the  tombs  were 
built.  In  the  long  ages  of  the  history  of 
Egypt,  it  was  natural  that  different  in- 
terpretations of  death  and  the  hereafter 
were  prevalent,  just  as  they  are  today 
among  peoples  who  inhabit  a  given 
counfety.  There  were  rituals  for  the 
dead,  and  far  back  in  their  history,  can 

18 


be  traced  the  belief  in 
"crossing  the  water  of 
death  to  the  next 
world."  One  of  the 
earliest  beliefs  was  that 
of  the  soul  wandering 
about  the  cemetery 
seeking  food,  and 
"down  to  late  times 
there  are  figures  of  the 
goddess  in  the  syca- 
more trees  giving  food 
and  drink  to  the  souls 
of  the  departed.  This 
was  not  only  a  symbol 
of  spiritual  sustenance, 
but  actual  offerings  of 
food  were  made  at  the 
grave.  ..."  Egypt  ris- 
ing to  its  height  of  civ- 
ilization, had  what  is 
known    as    the    Osiris 


J~„ — .-1 I 


the  "Book  of  the 
Dead."  When  the  de- 
ceased appeared  before 
the  god  Osiris,  he  was 
supposed  to  recite  a 
"Negative"  confession. 
This  confession  is 
found  in  thousands  of 
tombs,  for  the  confes- 
sion was  deposited  with 
the  mummy  for  its 
guidance  to  the  other 
world.  All  phrases  be- 
gin with  the  negative  "not." 


Ml.  SINAI 

In   the   land  where   Moses   toiled   to    save   the   Israelites. 
Assemblage  from  the  summit  of  the  Mount  of  the  Law. 


Plain    of 


—Photographs,  Underwood  6  Underwood 

a  guide  and  inspiration  of  conduct."  It 
was  the  divine  standard  which  could 
give  men  foothold  in  this  unstable 
world.  Men  were  to  find  their  relation- 
ship to  their  Creator,  which  was  an 
eternal  tie  here  and  hereafter.  Men 
who  committed  themselves  to  the  divine 
standards  of  God  became  his  instru- 
ments to  give  his  prophetic  messages 
to  the  world.  The  standards  they 
maintained  were  not  of  their  own  crea- 
tion, but  were  divine,  since  they  ex- 
pressed God's  mind  for  the  world,  and 
were  immutable.  This  was  the  message 
of  Isaiah.  The  individual  came  to  his 
own  through  prophetic  thought.  Com- 
munity of  conviction  grew  up  and  this 
conviction  b@und  men  into  a  brother- 
hood to  serve  the  divine  ends.  To  such 
communities,  God  would  give  the  vic- 
tory. Many  students  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment tell  us  that  faith  in  immortality 
made  its  way  among  the  men  only  who 
were  religiously  inclined,  and  it  is 
true  that  many  of  the  parties  that  grew 
up  in  Jerusalem,  long  before  Christ  was 
he  Hebrew  concept  of  immortality  born,  were  not  interested  in  the  question 
was  based  on  its  faith  in  God  or      at  all.    A  new  order  was  to  appear  in 

the   earth,   because   God   brought   the 
world,  as  well  as  man,  into  being  to 


I  have  not  done  injury  to  men. 

I  have  not  depressed  those  beneath  me. 

I  have  not  known  vanity. 

I  have  not  been  a  doer  of  mischief. 

I  have  not  done  what  the  gods  abominate. 

I  have  not  caused  hunger. 

I  have  not  caused  weeping. 

I  have  not  diminished  the  offerings  to  the 
gods. 

I  have  not  done  injustice. 
I  have  not  stolen. 
I  have  not  been  lazy. 
I  have  not  been  impure. 

The  dominant  belief  of  the  Egyptian, 
from  the  beginning  was  that  of  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul,  and  future  happi- 
ness in  company  with  the  gods  for  all, 
except  the  positively  wicked. 

The  Hebrew  Conception  of 
Immortality 


Jehovah  who  had  a  purpose  in  all  his 
creation,  and  who  revealed  his  will  to 
his  children  that  they  might  live  by  it. 
It  was  the  prophets  who  taught  the 
Word  of  God,  and  from  the  earliest 


manifest  His  will.  "The  fulness  of  the 
whole  earth  was  God's  glory.  It,  like 
man,   had  been  turned  aside   from  its 


days  they  were  the  religious  teachers,  true  end  through  the  moral  confusion 
"Devout  men,  who  held  firmly  to  a  which  reigned  in  it.  But  in  the  day, 
faith  in  God  who  revealed  his  will  as      when  God  revealed  himself,  it  should 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


IMMORTALITY 

£5u  i^rediaent  oLei/l  (L*aaar   l/lt 


lotAfta 


OF  THE  FIRST  COUNCIL  OF  THE  SEVENTY 


all  return  to  the  order  which  was  eter- 
nal, because  it  was  that  which  was  in 
God's  mind  when  he  created  it."* 

The  sublime  faith  in  God  as  shown  in 
all  the  writings  of  the  Old  Testament 
indicate  that  this  life  on  earth  is  but  a 
period  of  preparation  for  the  life  here- 
after. From  the  Psalms  we  have  "The 
Lord  is  my  shepherd.  .  .  ."  and  in  the 
nineteenth  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Job, 
we  have  Job  crying  out  in  his  great 
sorrow : 

Oh  that  my  words  were  now  written!   oh 

that  they  were  printed  in  a  book! 
That  they  were  graven  with  an  iron  pen 

and  lead  in  the  rock  for  ever! 
For  I  know  that  my  redeemer  liveth,  and 

that  he  shall  stand   at  the   latter  day 

upon  the  earth: 
And  though  after  my  skin  worms  destroy 

this  body,  yet  in  my  flesh  shall  I  see 

God.  .  .  . 

(Job  19:23-26.) 

How  safe  are  the  righteous  who  trust  in 
God! 

I  will  lift  up  mine  eyes  unto  the  hills,  from 

whence  cometh  my  help. 
My  help  cometh  from  the  Lord,  which  made 

heaven  and  earth. 
The  Lord  is  thy  keeper:    the  Lord  is  thy 

shade  upon  thy  right  hand. 
The  sun  shall  not  smite  thee  by  day,  nor  the 

moon  by  night. 
The  Lord  shall  preserve  thee  from  all  evil: 

he  shall  preserve  thy  soul. 
The  Lord  shall  preserve  thy  going  out  and 

thy  coming  in  from  this  time  forth,  and 

even  for  evermore. 

(Psalms  121:1,  2,5-8.) 

The  Jews  naturally  came  to  believe 
in  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  Since 
the  kingdom  was  to  be  on  the  earth,  the 
dead  must  come  back  in  bodily  form  in 
order  that  they  might  take  part  in  the 
kingdom. 

The  Christian  Idea  of  Immortality 

Jesus  was  in  Jerusalem  winning  the 
belief  of  many  by  his  acts  of  kind- 
ness and  his  blessings  to  the  poor,  when 
at  night  a  man  of  prominence  and  of 
wealth,  a  teacher  and  ruler,  came  to  him 
to  inquire  about  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
His  name  was  Nicodemus,  and  he  was 
a  ruler  of  the  Jews  and  a  member  of 
the  Sanhedrin.  Jesus  had  strangely  at- 
tracted him.  Some  word  of  the  Master 
had  entered  his  heart  and  the  impulse  to 
go  to  him  was  irresistible,  and  he  came 
to  ask  for  light.  He  was  in  mental 
darkness  and  confusion,  and  he  came  to 
inquire  about  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

*Adam  C.  Welch,  Hebrew  Conceptions  of  Immortal- 
ity 

JANUARY,  1945 


"Rabbi,"  he  said,  "we  know  that  thou 
art  a  teacher  come  from  God."  (He 
called  Jesus  "Rabbi,"  a  term  of  greatest 
respect.)  "For  no  man  can  do  these 
miracles  that  thou  doest,  except  God  be 
with  him."  Jesus  answered  and  said 
unto  him:  "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto 
thee,  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he 
cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God."  And 
to  the  question:  "How  can  a  man  be 
born  when  he  is  old?"  Jesus  answered, 
"Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  Except 
a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit, 
he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God."  It  must  be  entered  by  life,  a  new 
life.  Three  years  afterward  this  Jewish 
ruler  came  again  to  Christ,  who  had 
been  crucified,  and  brought  spices  and 
fine  linen  to  wrap  in  them  the  body  of 
his  Lord  and  to  anoint  it  for  His  burial. 
One  day  as  Jesus  was  sitting  on  the 
well  of  Jacob  resting,  a  woman  of  the 
country  came  to  draw  water.  He  asked 
her  to  give  him  drink,  for  she  could 
draw  from  the  deep  well.  Soon  she 
heard  such  words  as  she  had  never 
heard  before  as  she  stood  before  the 
Master  during  the  "quiet  of  a  Syrian 
noon  brooding  over  the  plain.  .  .  . 
Everyone  that  drinketh  of  this  water 
shall  thirst  again;  but  whosoever 
drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall  give 
him  shall  never  thirst;  but  the  water  that 
I  shall  give  him  shall  become  within  him 
a  well  of  living  water  springing  up  into 
eternal  life."  Soon  the 
well  and  the  water  had 
passed  from  their 
thoughts.  When  she 
declared  that  she  knew 
that  the  Messiah  should 
come,  Jesus  calmly 
said:  "I  am  he."  She 
left  her  water  jar  be- 
side the  well.  Her  er- 
rand was  forgotten.  She 
hastened  back  to  the 
town  and  bade  the  men 
she  met  come  and  see 
him.  They  came  and 
begged  him  to  remain 
with  them,  and  he  did. 
He  taught  them  in 
words  of  such  great- 
ness and  authority.  "I 
am  the  Truth.  ...  I  am 
the  Life.  ...  I  am  the 


PALESTINE 

"The  place  where  they  laid 
Him,"  rock  hewn  tomb  in  hill- 
side north  of  Jerusalem  held  by 
divinity  scholars  to  be  the  site  >  Vsit* 
of  burial  of  Jesus  Christ  the 
Redeemer. 


Resurrection.  ...  I  give  unto  men  eter- 
nal life.  .  .  .  Come  unto  me  and  I  will 
give  you  rest.  .  .  .  Because  I  live,  ye 
shall  also  live.  .  .  .  He  that  followeth 
me  shall  have  the  light  of  life."  Thus 
he  declared  his  mission  to  the  world.  It 
was  to  give  life,  and  life  eternal.  Man 
is  to  have  a  new  gift  of  life.  He  is  to 
live  forever  more  with  his  affections, 
his  virtues,  his  accomplishments,  his 
earnings,  all  that  is  good.  In  these 
words  and  in  his  prayer:  "Thy  king- 
dom come,  Thy  will  be  done,"  he  gave 
us  for  all  time  teachings  concerning 
immortality.  The  Christian  immortality 
is  based  upon  a  conception  of  God, 
seeking  to  raise  man  to  a  higher  stage 
of  moral  and  spiritual  life  and  to  bring 
him  back  to  heaven.  The  worth  of  man 
is  revealed  in  God's  will  to  save  him 
to  the  high  destiny  to  which  he  calls 
him.  Nothing  is  clearer  than  that  there 
came  into  the  world  with  Jesus  Christ 
a  new,  fresh,  and  incomparable  power 
to  recreate  the  lives  of  men  and  to  open 
the  hereafter  to  them  for  which  they 
might  work  and  live.  In  the  words  of 
St.  Mark,  the  all-comforting  message 
of  immortality  is  given  to  us. 

And  when  the  sabbath  was  past,  Mary 
Magdalene,  and  Mary  the  mother  of  James, 
and  Salome,  had  bought  sweet  spices,  that 
they  might  come  and  anoint  him. 

And  very  early  in  the  morning  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  they  came  unto  the 
sepulchre  at  the  rising  of  the  sun. 

And  they  said  among  themselves,  Who 
shall  roll  us  away  the  stone  from  the  door 
of  the  sepulchre? 

And  when  they  looked,  they  saw  that 
the  stone  was  rolled  away:  for  it  was  very 
great. 

And  entering  into  the  sepulchre,  they  saw 
a  young  man  sitting  on  the  right  side, 
clothed  in  a  long  white  garment;  and  they 
were  affrighted. 

And  he  saith  unto  them,  Be  not  affrighted: 
(Concluded  on  page  62) 


^Jke 


HARDSCRABBLE 


I 


,  N  the  Wasatch  Mountains 
of  early  days  hardy  mountaineers  were 
accustomed  to  deeds  of  personal  valor. 
Danger  lurked  in  many  an  unfrequented 
glade;  hazards  coiled  by  the  rocks  of 
nearly  every  trail;  for  some  wild  animals 
had  not  yet  lost  their  fearlessness  of 
man.  Yet  of  the  daring  pioneers  whom 
it  has  been  our  pleasure  to  know,  one 
of  the  bravest  was  John  Burton*;  and 
the  incident  herein  related  is  still  dis- 
cussed with  awe  by  those  who  were 
aware  of  its  occurrence  in  those  early 
times. 

Having  heard  the  story  from  his  own 
lips  just  prior  to  his  death  in  1920,  we 
have  the  benefit  of  our  notes  made  at 
the  time  and  can  thus  vouch  for  the  ac- 
curacy of  the  details.  It  was  somewhere 
about  the  year  1892  that  the  tragic  event 
happened  in  that  wild  and  picturesque 
part  of  the  Wasatch  Mountains  known 
as  Hardscrabble  Canyon,  a  canyon,  by 
the  way,  which  though  only  some  twen- 
ty miles  northeast  of  Salt  Lake  City, 
still  harbors  the  sneaking  cougar  and  the 
wily  wolf.  We  ourselves  have  come 
upon  black  bears  in  its  serviceberry 
patches;  but  perhaps  no  more  does  the 
finger-clawed  grizzly  tread  its  trails. 
From  the  ridge  at  its  top  one  may  look 
westerly  to  the  flats  below,  where  trains 
edge  the  Great  Salt  Lake  on  their  way 
to  California;  or  gaze  easterly  and  per- 
ceive other  trains  puffing  upward  beside 
the  Weber  River  on  their  journey  to  the 
East.  Often,  when  the  weather  is  favor- 
able, one  may  indeed  hear  the  distant 
whistles  of  the  locomotives,  so  clear  and 
pure  is  the  atmosphere  of  the  Wasatch. 
Indeed,  even  today,  Hardscrabble  Can- 
yon retains  much  of  its  early  beauty  and 
wildness. 

It  was  about  1892  when 
two  sheepherders  were  encamped  near 
a  grove  of  balsams  at  the  head  of  this 
thickly-timbered  canyon,  the  name  of 
which  aptly  portrays  its  labyrinthine 
growths  of  cottonwoods,  quaking 
aspens,  alders,  pines,  scrub  oaks  and 
willows.  The  older  of  the  two— call 
him  Leavitt,  as  their  names  were  never 
given  us — was  a  tall,  bearded  man  of 
much  physical  strength  and  boldness;  he 
was  the  herder  whose  duty  it  was  night 

*Mr.  Burton  possessed  remarkable  physical  strength 
and  fearlessness.  The  writer  once  saw  him  stretch 
out  prone,  face  downward,  feet  together,  arms  ex- 
tended full  length  ahead  with  the  hands  touching, 
and  with  a  fifty  pound  weight  on  his  back,  actually 
raise  his  body  five  inches  from  the  floor  with  only  the 
tips  of  his  fingers  and  toes  for  support.  Try  it  some 
time.  It  was  his  habit  to  walk  to  his  sheep  camps  at 
the  top  of  the  mountains  at  night;  and  such  was  his 
untiring  endurance  that  once,  having  a  message  for  him, 
the  author  required  three  days  on  hoseback  to  reach 
him  in  the  mountains  above  Richmond,  Utah.  For 
many  years  the  writer's  brother,  R.  W..  had  part  of 
the  skeleton  of  the  large  grizzly  herein  described. 
This  account  >is  but  one  of  several  that  could  be 
related  about  this  remarkable  man. 

20 


ill 


nzzued 


A  TRUE  STORY  by  CLAUDE  T.  BARNES 


or  day  to  have  the  band  of  over  two 
thousand  sheep  constantly  under  his 
surveillance,  to  ramble  after  them  over 
the  hills  during  the  day,  and  to  sleep  at 
the  camp  at  night  with  one  ear  open,  as 
it  were,  for  the  sound  of  any  marauding 
coyote  or  murderous  lion.  His  com- 
panion, whom  we  shall  call  Wilson,  a 
youth  of  about  twenty  years,  inexperi- 
enced but  willing,  was  the  camp  tender; 
he  did  the  cooking,  moved  the  camp 
wagon  from  place  to  place,  as  the  need 
of  new  grazing  ground  demanded; 
hobbled  the  three  pack  horses  and  made 
occasional  trips  down  the  mountain  for 
supplies  such  as  canned  and  dried  fruits, 
flour,  and  rock  salt. 

It  was  the  middle  of  September;  and 
patches  of  crimson,  maroon,  and  yellow 
were  interspersed  among  the  greens  of 
the  canyon  sides.  The  leaves  of  the 
chokecherry  were  turning  to  vinaceous 
cinnamon;  those  of  the  dogwood,  to 
dark  maroon. 

As  the  two  men  arrived  at  their  camp, 
the  sun  was  fast  nearing  the  ridge  above 
them,  and  an  evening  draft  was  begin- 
ning to  whisper  through  the  stately 
pines.  The  young  camp  tender  repaired 
to  the  tent  where  hung  the  carcass  of  a 
fat  young  ewe,  mutton  being  their  only 
fresh  meat;  and  he  was  in  the  act  of 
slicing   off  sufficient   for   their   supper 


when  an  exclamation  from  Leavitt  im- 
mediately recalled  him. 

The  older  man  was  gazing  at  a  grizzly 
cub,  which  was  playing  by  a  clump  of 
serviceberry  bushes  about  forty  yards 
up  the  canyon.  It  was  apparently  alone 
and  wholly  unmindful  of  the  presence 
of  the  two  men.  The  sheep  were  resting 
on  a  little  flat  about  a  hundred  yards 
down  the  canyon. 

"Get  me  my  gun,"  said  Leavitt  quiet- 
ly, keeping  his  eyes  all  the  while  towards 
the  bear.  Wilson  responded  quickly, 
and  then  the  herder,  crouching  low, 
sneaked  quietly  a  few  paces  up  the 
ravine  and,  resting  beside  a  rock,  took 
deliberate  aim  and  fired.  The  cub  rolled 
over,  and  had  just  begun  to  squall 
piteously,  when  a  she-grizzly  and  her 
monstrous  mate  plunged  through  the 
berry  patch  out  into  the  open,  ready  to 
wreak  vengeance  on  the  whole  world! 
The  she-bear  ran  to  her  cub,  slapped  it 
lightly  with  her  paw,  sniffed  at  it  loudly 
and  then  turned,  the  picture  of  enmity 
and  fiendish  determination.  Leavitt  fired 
again,  and  then  both  brutes  charged 
wildly  at  him. 

Wilson  fled  down  the  canyon  as  fast 

as  he  could  run;  but  the  herder  stood 

his   ground.     There   was   a  terrifying 

scream;  and  Wilson  glanced  back  just 

(Continued  on  page  55) 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


'.     L^klAPck 


icer: 


DO  YOU  TALK  TOO  MUCH? 


/NELSON 


Mr.  Church  Officer,  do  you  talk 
too  much?  You  know,  those  over 
whom  you  preside  have  too 
much  respect  for  you  to  tell  you  about 
it  if  you  do  talk  too  much.  There  is 
nothing  that  will  kill  your  prestige  more 
than  for  you  to  be  lecturing  eternally 
to  them.  If  you  express  yourself  very 
easily  and  if  you  have  real  ability  as 
a  public  speaker,  you  should  ever  be 
on  your  guard  lest  you  comment  too 
much  from  the  pulpit.  Many  times  you 
will  be  prompted  to  give  vent  to  your 
feelings  in  lecturing,  but  be  wise.  Don't 
eternally  "spank"  your  members.  They 
will  love  you  if  you  are  frank;  and  you 
will  never  lose  your  influence,  if,  when 
an  issue  arises,  you  let  them  know  where 
you  stand,  and  further,  point  their 
noses  in  the  right  direction.  You  are 
wise — that's  why  you  were  chosen  for 
leadership.  To  give  advice  from  the 
pulpit  or  otherwise  is  your  prerogative 
and  your  duty,  but  your  people  will 
take  your  advice  more  willingly  if  you 
don't  talk  too  much. 

One  of  the  saddest  things  to  find  as 
one  visits  a  ward  is  a  "talking  bishop." 
No  matter  what  is  said  or  done,  he  just 
must  comment.  Probably  there  is  no 
place  in  a  ward  function  where  this  is 
more  noticeable  than  at  a  funeral. 
When  an  appropriate  service  has  been 
rendered  and  everyone  feels  that  the 
spirit  is  complete,  it  is  often  spoiled  by 
an  oration  at  the  end.  The  spirit  of  many 
a  wholesome  service  has  been  spoiled 
through  a  bishop's  ambition  to  put  the 
finishing  touches  on  the  program. 
Measure  your  words  and  let  them  be 
few.  Don't  have  it  said  of  you  that  the 
members  of  your  organization  are  al- 
ways using  their  faith  and  prayers  to 

JANUARY,  1945 


^Jke  people  of  your  oracu%Lzatiovi  have  too  muck 
respect  for  uou  to  tell  uou  of  it,  If uou  talk  too  muck 


iyou  llSe  the  srudae : 


! 


By  MARVIN  O.  ASHTON  of  the  presiding  bishopric 


the  end  that  you  won't  talk  too  much. 
Because  your  audience  has  its  eye  on 
you  and  has  the  attitude  of  being  enter- 
tained, don't  always  suppose  your  mes- 
sage is  sinking  in.  It  won't  sink  in  if 
you  talk  too  much.  Your  listeners  have 
too  much  respect  for  you  to  be  dis- 
courteous. Their  eyes  may  be  riveted 
on  you,  but  back  of  those  eyes  may  be 
a  prayer  to  heaven  to  bless  you  with 
more  discretion  than  you  are  displaying 
in  that  moment  of  their  boredom. 

A  story  is  told  of  a  negro  preacher 
who  was  being  visited  at  his  church  by 
a  fellow  pastor.  Out  of  courtesy,  the 
visitor  was  given  a  few  moments  to  ex- 
press himself  from  the  stand.  But  I 
suppose  the  fellow  pastor  decided  to 
take  advantage  of  the  invitation  and 
talked  an  hour  and  a  half.  (He  was 
like  many  people  when  called  upon,  and 
thought  he  would  make  good  use  of 
the  opportunity,  as  it  might  be  a  long 
while  before  the  opportunity  would 
knock  at  his  door  again. )  Well,  when 
he  finished,  there  was  only  one  thing 
to  do,  and  that  was  to  close  the  meet- 
ing.  The  prayer  of  the  negro  preacher 


was  about  as  follows:  "Oh,  Lord,  we 
thank  thee  for  our  blessings  and  for  the 
visit  of  our  dear  brother  who  has  dis- 
coursed to  us  this  day.  Bless  him,  oh 
Lord,  and  especially  that  he  might  take 
a  few  feathers  from  the  wings  of  his 
imagination  and  place  them  on  the  tail 
of  his  judgment." 

Remember  the  greatest  constructive 
forces  in  the  universe  are  silent.  The 
boisterous  noises  like  lightning  and 
thunder  are  those  that  do  the  damage. 
The  sun  comes  up  each  morning  to  give 
the  earth  its  eternal  vitality — silently. 
The  worlds  in  the  heavens  do  their 
work  silently. 

Your  greatest  generalship  will  be 
shown  in  distributing  authority.  Your 
leadership  is  measured  by  the  type  and 
calibre  of  the  men  and  women  you 
draw  about  you.  It  is  not  measured  by 
the  noise  you  yourself  make. 

A  visitor  to  a  school  was  impressed 
with  the  discipline  and  the  precision  of 
the  response  of  the  pupils  to  their  teach- 
er. It  was  marvelous.  Without  any 
outward  commotion,  the  students  arose 
(Concluded  on  page  34) 

21 


MISSION  SPIRIT  KEPT  ALIVE 


One  of  the  unforgettable  experi- 
ences of  an  Eastern  States  mis- 
sionary is  to  stand  in  the  Sacred 
Grove  at  Palmyra,  New  York,  and 
bear  a  farewell  testimony  to  his  com- 
panions at  the  Cumorah  conference, 
before  leaving  for  home.  On  this  and 
other  memorable  occasions,  lasting  im- 
pressions are  made  which,  no  doubt,  are 
typical  of  the  great  moments  in  the  mis- 
sionary experience  of  everyone  who 
has  been  privileged  to  serve  as  an 
L.D.S.  missionary. 

It  was  at  just  such  a  gathering,  sever- 
al years  ago,  that  a  group  of  Eastern 
States  missionaries  made  a  solemn 
pledge  that  the  spirit  of  Cumorah  should 
be  kept  alive,  even  after  mission  days 
had  ended.  One  of  the  strongest  in- 
fluences binding  them  together  was 
found  in  President  and  Sister  Frank 
Evans,  who,  at  that  early  date,  extended 
an  invitation  for  the  first  western 
Cumorah  gathering  to  be  held  at  their 
farm  home  in  Coalville,  Utah,  as  soon 
as  they  returned  west. 

On  July  24,  1941,  the  beginning  was 
made.  This  date  (the  official  eastern 
conference  date)  found  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  missionaries  assembled, 
along  with  their  sweethearts,  wives, 
husbands,  and  children.  What  a  re- 
union it  was!  There  was  an  outdoor 
barbecue  with  all  the  trimmings,  and  for 
the  barbecue  the  elders  and  their  mis- 
sion father  had  prepared  a  pit  the  week 
before.  Games  and  sports  for  every 
interest  were  in  evidence,  and  a  treasure 
hunt  took  the  entire  group  over  forty 
acres  of  farm  land.  Last  of  all,  to  crown 
the  day's  activities,  came  the  spiritual 
touch — a  meeting  in  a  nearby  grove, 
where  everyone  present  had  an  oppor- 


& 


f 

<=JLar5on 

MEMBER,  GENERAL  BOARD, 
Y.  W.  M.  I.  A. 


tunity  to  speak,  sing,  or  otherwise  par- 
ticipate as  was  customary  in  the  mis- 
sion field.  The  Evans'  family  organ  com- 
pleted the  unique  picture  and  added  the 
religious  warmth  called  for.  A  public 
address  system  had  been  secured,  so 
that  everything  said  or  done  was  heard. 
The  unanimous  vote  at  the  close  of  the 
evening  was  that  the  occasion  should 
occur  annually,  and  every  July  24th 
since  has  found  many  of  the  same 
group,  with  newly  returned  mission- 
aries added,  gathered  at  some  conveni- 
ent spot,  consistent  with  wartime  travel 
restrictions,  engaging  in  similar  activi- 
ties. 

Coon  after  this  first  Cumorah  reunion, 
^  the  missionaries  decided  that  even 
the  July  celebration  and  the  conference 
reunions  with  the  rest  of  the  Eastern 
States  Mission  organization  did  not 
offer  frequent  enough  contact  for  a 
spirited  group  of  missionary  compan- 


GROUP   OF  RETURNED   MISSIONARIES   WHO 
MET  AT  THE  HOME  OF  H.   LeROY  FRISBY. 


ions,  if  they  were  actually  to  perpetuate 
the  bonds  they  had  known  while  in  the 
mission  field.  In  order  to  provide  fur- 
ther study  opportunities,  social  con- 
tacts, and  a  renewal  of  the  spiritual 
atmosphere  of  the  mission,  there  was 
organized  a  Sunday  Evening  Fireside 
group.  Its  meetings  were  held  every 
two  weeks  in  the  homes  of  missionaries, 
following  the  regular  sacrament  meet- 
ings in  ward  chapels.  Anyone  returning 
from  the  mission  was  considered  wel- 
come as  a  new  member. 

With  the  exception  of  a  very  short 
summer  vacation,  these  biweekly  meet- 
ings have  continued  and  are  now  enjoy- 
ing a  peak  of  success,  both  in  attend- 
ance and  enthusiasm.  Soon  after  this 
group  began  its  meetings,  many  mem- 
bers entered  the  armed  services,  but 
hardly  a  meeting  is  now  held  without 
the  presence  of  a  number  of  service- 
men who  are  home  on  furlough,  or  who 
are  stationed  near  this  area.  They  are 
thrilled  to  know  that  they  may  return 
to  such  an  active  circle  of  friends,  and 
that  when  the  war  is  over,  they  may 
take  their  places  among  their  compan- 
ions as  before.  The  group  has  made  a 
special  effort  to  keep  in  touch  with  the 
servicemen  who  are  away,  and  keep 
informed  as  to  their  whereabouts  and 
successes.  A  very  small  number  have 
been  called  upon  to  make  the  supreme 
sacrifice,  and  they  will  be  greatly  missed 
by  their  former  companions.  Those  re- 
maining will  strive  even  more  diligently 
to  hold  high  the  ideals  and  standards 
for  which  some  have  paid  such  a  price. 

There  are  many  who  have  asked  how 

this    fireside   organization   could   have 

(Concluded  on  page  59) 


22 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


SOME    EXPERIENCES 

WITH 

UjSu  &Le5tie  cJL.  S^udvueehd 


enera 


I    villa 


One  of  the  dramatic  figures  in  re- 
cent Mexican  history  was  Fran- 
cisco (Pancho)  Villa  [real 
name,  Doroteo  Arango] — peon,  bandit, 
soldier,  rebel,  general— partisan  of  first 
one  side  and  then  another,  during  the 
turbulent  decade  of  the  Mexican  Rev- 
olutions (1910-1920).  But  with  all  of 
his  imperfections,  Villa  was  a  man  of 
his  word  and  one  who  had  great  regard 
for  the  Mormon  colonists. 

One  day  when  General  Villa  was  at 
Casas  Grandes,  several  brethren,  in- 
cluding Bishops  Joseph  C.  Bentley  of 
Colonia  Juarez  and  Anson  B.  Call  of 
Colonia  Dublan  went  down  to  see  him. 
The  Mormon  colonists  endeavored  at 
all  times  to  exhibit  no  partisanship  to- 
ward either  rebels  or  federalists  but  to 
remain  on  friendly  terms  with  both  fac- 
tions, hoping  by  this  neutrality  to  avoid 
molestation. 

As  soon  as  the  rebel  chieftain  saw  the 
brethren  he  flew  into  a  rage,  telling  them 
to  go  back  to  the  United  States  where 
all  Americanos  belonged  and  let 
"Aunty"  Taft  take  care  of  them.  The 
brethren  then  explained  to  him  that  they 
were  Mexican  citizens,  that  their  homes 
and  all  their  possessions  were  in  Mexi- 
co, and  that  it  was  their  adopted  coun- 
try. 

This  unexpected  answer  seemed  to 
please  the  rebel  commander,  who  in- 
quired what  he  could  do  for  them.  He 
was  told  that  the  object  of  the  visit  was 
to  secure  a  written  order,  directing  any 
rebel  soldiers,  who  might  be  foraging, 
to  spare  the  work  animals  of  the  colon- 
ists and  take  only  saddle  horses.  Villa 
obligingly  wrote  out  the  order  and  gave 
copies  to  Bishop  Bentley  and  Bishop 
Call. 

The  general  then  said  that  he  was 
badly  in  need  of  blankets  and  quilts  for 
his  men  and  that  he  would  like  to  buy 
all  the  bedding  in  the  store  at  Colonia 
Juarez.  When  informed  that  the  Juarez 
store  was  only  a  grocery  and  did  not 
carry  bedding,  he  expressed  consider- 
able disappointment,  calling  attention 
to  the  suffering  of  his  men.  Bishop  Bent- 
ley then  volunteered  to  take  up  a  col- 
lection of  surplus  bedding  from  the  col- 
onists for  the  relief  of  the  suffering 
troops.  Villa  replied  that  he  did  not 
want  to  rob  the  Mormons,  but  that  he 
would  be  glad  to  buy  the  bedding  from 
them. 

True  to  his  word,  Joseph  Bentley  re- 
turned to  Colonia  Juarez,  collected 
about  thirty  quilts  and  blankets,  hauled 
them  to  Casas  Grandes  in  his  wagon, 
and  presented  them  to  Villa. 

A  number  of  years  later,  in  March 
**  1919,  Joseph  C.  Bentley,  who  by 
this  time  had  been  chosen  president  of 

JANUARY,  1945 


the  Juarez  Stake,  in  company  with 
James  R.  Whetten  and  Albert  Tietjen, 
set  out  to  visit  the  missionaries  who 
were  laboring  in  some  of  the  native  vil- 
lages. They  reached  El  Valle  de  San 
Buenaventura  without  mishap,  finding 
the  elders  there  in  good  health.  After 
remaining  for  a  few  days,  the  visitors 


PRESIDENT  JOSEPH  C.  BENTLEY 

set  out  for  Namiquipa,  driving  a  team  of 
mules  hitched  to  a  light  buggy.  In  the 
afternoon  they  came  unexpectedly  upon 
a  band  of  armed  men,  which  formed  one 
of  Villa's  outposts. 

Elder  Whetten,  being  the  most  fluent 
of  the  trio  in  the  use  of  the  Spanish  lan- 
guage, explained  to  the  captain  of  the 
detachment  the  purpose  of  their  journey 
and  assured  him  that  it  was  entirely 
peaceful.  The  captain  was  favorably 
disposed  toward  the  brethren  but  in- 
formed them  that  he  would  have  to  hold 
them  until  nightfall,  when  he  would  con- 
duct them  to  Villa's  camp.  The  gener- 
al, he  advised  them,  was  in  an  ugly 
mood,  and  it  was  likely  to  go  hard  with 
any  Americanos  who  were  so  un- 
fortunate as  to  fall  into  his  hands.1  The 
captain  said  that  he  dared  not  release 
them  without  the  permission  of  his  gen- 

1ViIla's  hard  feelings  toward  the  United  States  and 
toward  Americans  in  general  are  easily  explained.  As 
a  rebel  he  had  been  denied  the  right  to  purchase  arms 
in  the  United  States  while  at  the  same  time  war  sup- 
plies were  being  exported  to  the  Mexican  government. 
Although  strictly  in  accordance  with  international  law 
and  custom,  such  action,  to  Villa's  untutored  mind, 
was  gross  injustice.  Also  on  one  occasion  Mexican 
Federalist  forces  opposing  him  were  permitted  trans- 
portation through  Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona  in 
order  to  attack  Villa  from  the  rear,  the  Mexican  route 
from  Sonora  to  Chihuahua  being  impassable  for  an 
army.  The  crowning  insult  to  Villa's  vanity  was,  of 
course,  the  expedition  of  General  Pershing  into  Mexico 
in  a  vain  attempt  to  capture  the  rebel  leader,  following 
the  latter's  revenge  raid  on  Columbus,  New  Mexico, 
in   1916. 


eral  but  agreed  to  ride  ahead  and  see  if 
that  consent  could  not  be  obtained. 

A  few  hours  later  the  brethren  were 
aroused  from  their  slumbers  by  the 
sound  of  approaching  horsemen.  In  a 
short  time  the  captain  of  the  guard  rode 
up,  saying  that  his  general  was  furious 
because  he  had  not  brought  the  prison- 
ers into  camp  and  had  commanded  him 
to  return  and  fetch  them  immediately. 

A  bed  was  made  in  the  back  of  the 
buggy  for  President  Bentley,  and  as  the 
night  was  cold,  the  captain  of  the  guard 
accepted  an  invitation  to  ride  in  the  seat 
between  the  two  other  brethren.  When 
they  reached  Villa's  camp,  they  found 
that  the  general  had  gone  on  to  the  town 
of  Cruces  with  most  of  his  men.  All  that 
night,  the  following  day,  and  the  next 
night,  the  travelers  awaited  their  fate. 
On  the  second  morning  word  came  for 
the  entire  camp  to  move  on  to  Cruces. 

The  three  brethren  were  delivered  in- 
to the  hands  of  other  officers  and  were 
imprisoned  for  a  time  in  a  dark  room 
without  windows.  Eventually  they  were 
led  out  into  the  street  where  an  officer 
of  some  importance  was  giving  orders 
to  his  men.  Elder  Whetten  soon  struck 
up  a  conversation  with  a  distinguished- 
appearing  gentleman  in  civilian  clothes 
who  stood  near  by.  The  man  inquired 
politely  if  the  three  brethren  had  been 
to  breakfast.  When  he  learned  that  they 
had  not,  he  conducted  them  into  the 
dining  room  and  ordered  a  meal. 

As  they  breakfasted,  the  conversa- 
tion continued.  The  three  men  soon 
learned  that  their  benefactor  was  the 
noted  General  Felipe  Angeles,  who  was 
on  a  confidential  mission,  more  or  less 
incognito,  with  a  view  to  persuading 
Villa  to  lay  down  his  arms  and  make 
peace.  Angeles  inquired  politely  regard- 
ing the  religious  views  of  the  brethren 
and  appeared  very  much  interested  in 
what  they  had  to  say. 

President  Bentley  said  in  a  low  tone 
to  Elder  Whetten,  "Give  him  all  the 
gospel  you  can.  We  would  rather  talk 
with  him  than  with  Villa  himself  just 
now." 

HPhe  conversation  continued  unabated 
for  several  hours.  During  this  time 
the  officer  whom  they  had  noticed  giv- 
ing orders  earlier  in  the  day  kept  enter- 
ing the  room,  listening  nervously  for  a 
few  minutes,  and  then  going  out.  Presi- 
dent Bentley  had  recognized  him  as 
General  Villa. 

Several  times  when  General  Villa  came 
into  the  room  General  Angeles  said  to  him, 
"Come  over  here  and  hear  some  of  this 
doctrine;  it  is  the  finest  thing  I  have  ever 
heard.  These  men  are  trying  to  do  by  talk- 
ing just  the  thing  we  are  trying  to  do  with 
our  guns." 

"Yes,"  replied  General  Villa,  "I  know  all 

about  the  Mormons  and  their  doctrine.    I 

( Concluded  on  page  6 1 ) 

23 


octxy 


IF  LOVE  BE  GUEST 
By  Christie  Lund  Coles 

IF  love  be  guest  within  your  heart 
Be  courteous,  be  kind; 
To  all  the  little  faults  of  love, 
Be  somewhat  blind. 

For  love  has  walked  unnumbered  roads, 
Has  passed  unnumbered  doors, 

Ah,  bolt  your  heart  most  carefully 
If  love  be  guest  in  yours. 


u 


STAR  IN  THE  WINDOW 
By  Winifred  Davis 

nbuckle  your  heart  and  let  him  go  free, 
Give  him  the  earth  and  the  sky  and  the 
sea — 


Blessed  be  his  land  and  blessed  be  his  sea, 
Peace  go  and  blessings  there  wherever  he 

be; 
Peaceful  his  path  lie,  shining  and  bright, 
Safe  be  his  daylight  and  calm  be  his  night. 
Boyhood  stay  gently  upon  his  dark  head — 
Blessed  be  his  board  and  blessed  be  his  bed; 
Blessed   be    the   power   that  shelters    from 

harm — 
Son,  lean  thou  on  his  bosom — trust  thou  in 

his  arm. 
Kept  by  his  presence  upon  far-flung  foam, 
Safe  the  high  seas  over,  sailor,  come  home, 


BRIGHT  IS  THE  FAITH 

A  Tribute 
By  Edith  Hatoldsen  Lovell 

Dlow  gently,  winds,  in  that  far-off  land; 
■*-'   Hallow  that  grave  in  alien  sand 

For  there  an  American  flier  sleeps. 
His  was  the  courage  to  fly  and  fight; 
His  was  the  honor  to  die  for  right; 

O  bright  is  the  faith  that  a  flier  keeps. 

Perhaps  it  is,  that  in  the  sky 

The  trivial  things  can  pass  them  by, 

And  they  can  see  into  the  years 
Which  things  are  worthy  of  their  tears; 
Which  things  are  false,  and  which  are  just; 

In  which  ideals  to  put  their  trust. 

How  else  could  fliers  blithely  go 
Into  the  fire  of  the  foe 

Knowing  each  flight  might  be  farewell? 
Blow  gently,  winds,  in  that  far-off  land; 
His  parents  grieve,  and  that  lonely  sand 

Holds  part  of  their  hearts  as  well. 

And  though  at  times  we  cannot  see 

Why  hate  and  war  and  death  should  be — 

Why  flame  and  blood  should  smirch  the 
sky, 
Why  first  the  finest  and  best  should  die; 
Yet  each  of  us  answers,  one  by  one 

When  our  little  span  of  work  is  done. 

Blow  gently,  winds,  in  that  far-off  land; 
Hallow  that  plot  of  alien  sand; 

For  there  an  American  flier  sleeps. 
His  was  the  bitter  and  difficult  road 
Yet  his  was  the  measure  that  overflowed. 

O,  bright  is  the  faith  that  a  flier  keeps! 

24 


COME  AND  GROW  OLD  WITH  ME 
(Inscribed  to  President  Heber  J.  Grant 

IN    LOVE   AND    ADMIRATION    AND    WITH    EVERY 
GOOD  BIRTHDAY  WISH) 

By  Bertha  A.  Kleinman 

COME  and  grow  old  with  me  as  trees  grow 
old, 
Each  season  adding  newer,  finer  wood, 
In  timbered  might  defying  storm  and  cold 
And  nobler  for  adversity  withstood. 

God  made  a  tree — he  likewise  fashioned  me, 
To  brave  the  rain,  the  thunder — shock  and 

blast — 
A  weathered  oak  that  sheds  security 
From  fruited  boughs  uplifted  to  the  last. 

Come  and  grow  old  with  me — the  evening 

star 
Is  spanned  with  rainbow  promise  after  strife; 
There  is  no  age,  for  at  the  gate  ajar 
New  wood  still  blossoms  on  THE  TREE 

OF  LIFE! 


♦  ■ 


WORDS  WILL  COME  AFTER 
By  Dott  /.  Sartori 

Words  will  come  after,  with  remembering, 
To  hold  our  summer  past  the  equinox; 
Words  will  come  after,  and  remembering, 
Reviving  columbine  and  box. 

Words  will  come  after,  and  a  winter  night 
Raise  this  canopy  of  leaf  and  bough 
Out  of  memory  and  sound  again 
The  syllables  we  utter  now. 


NEW  YEAR'S  EVE  1944 
By  Edna  S.  Dustin 

As  we  watch  the  Old  Year's  candlewick 
waver 
And  hear  it  sputtering  in  its  tallow  of  yester- 
day, 
We  see  a  freshly  molded  taper 
Raising  its  tiny  palm  in  faith  of  tomorrow. 

^Photograph,  Salt  Lake  Tribune 


A  SOLUTION 
By  Edward  C.  Dimatteo 

Falls  the  snow  upon  the  mountains, 
Descends  the  rain  from  hidden  fountains, 
Leaps  the  wind  from  northern  regions, 
Dark  reflects  the  solar  legions. 

Awaken,  beast  of  nature's  garden, 
Forego  the  winter's  urge  to  harden 
Creeping  waters  instilled  with  fear, 
Inflicted  by  this  trampling  year. 

Arise  and  clash  with  the  brutal  morrow, 
Defend  the  chaste  and  good  you  borrow, 
Withhold  all  grace  enwrapped  in  thought. 
Secure  the  goal  for  which  you  fought. 

Deny  all  bloodless  force  to  last 
The  cruel  incisions  of  your  past, 
Uplift  your  heart  unto  the  maker, 
Endowed  with  guidance  for  the  taker. 

Melts  the  ice  from  stretching  crests, 
Drys  the  saturated  lowland  nests, 
Limps  the  crippled  fleeing  breeze, 
Shines  the  sun  on  dreams  you  seize. 


NEW  YEAR 
By  Rena  Stotenburgh  Travais 

Beyond  my  cabin  window 
The  snows  lie  cold  and  white; 
I  shall  not  hear  the  ringing 

Of  New  Year  bells  tonight. 
I  shall  not  stand  with  Christians 
Who  glad  hosannahs  sing, 
Shut  in  by  drifts  that  deepen 
And  isolation  bring. 

But  in  the  midnight  silence 

Remembering,  I  shall  hear 

The  dear  familiar  music 

That  welcomes  in  the  year. 

Beyond  my  cabin  doorway 

I  cannot  hope  to  go, 
But  soon  will  come  the  New  Year 

For  all  the  world  to  know. 
With  promise  and  with  blessing 

With  comfort  for  each  heart 
In  all  its  celebration 

I  cannot  have  a  part; 

But  when  my  clock  says  midnight 
I  shall  not  lack  for  cheer; 

With  memories  all  about  me 

I'll  welcome  the  New  Year. 


ASSURANCE 
By  Elaine  V.  Emans 

Order  has  fled,  they  say,  there  is  no  room 
For  her  in  this  confusion — and  we  listen, 
Smiling,  and  know  with  work  and  cloth  and 

broom 
We  have  brought  houses  peace  again,  and 

glisten,     . 
We  have  brought  order  back.   And  this  we 

know, 
We  who  are  order-lovers,  that  a  mind 
Yearning  indeed  for  lovely  quiet  ways, 
By  reasoning  and  praying  and  by  slow 
Determining  can  leave  chaos  behind. 
Think  not  that  order  would   desert  these 

days. 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


dired  Moves  On 


President  Grant  Broadcast 

HThe  regular  Sunday  evening  Church 
radio  hour  broadcast  over  KSL  on 
November  26,  featured  a  message  from 
President  Heber  J.  Grant — selected  by 
him  and  presented  by  his  own  recorded 
voice  from  his  previous  recorded  mes- 
sages. 

The  eight-minute  recorded  address 
touched  upon  the  fundamental  beliefs 
of  the  Church  as  set  forth  in  the  Ar- 
ticles of  Faith  and  elsewhere. 

During  the  week  President  Grant  had 
marked,  on  November  22,  his  eighty- 
eighth  birthday,  and  on  November  23, 
the  completion  of  his  twenty-sixth  year 
as  president  of  the  Church. 

Y.W.M.I.A.  Jubilee 

HThe  seventy-fifth  anniversary  of  the 
founding  of  the  Young  Women's 
Mutual  Improvement  Association  was 
noted  at  appropriate  Sunday  services, 
November  26,  and  at  Mutual  meetings 
on  Tuesday,  November  28,  in  wards 
and  branches  throughout  the  Church. 

A  plaque  commemorating  the  found- 
ing of  the  organization  was  dedicated 
at  the  Lion  House,  place  of  organiza- 
tion, on  Tuesday  November  28,  by 
President  George  Albert  Smith  of  the 
Council  of  the  Twelve.  Speakers  here 
were  Ruth  May  Fox,  only  living  past 
president  of  the  Y.W.M.I.A.,  and  Jo- 
seph F.  Smith,  Patriarch  to  the  Church, 
who  read  Brigham  Young's  words  to  his 
daughters.  Mrs.  Lucy  Grant  Cannon, 
present  general  president  of  the  associa- 
tion, conducted  the  program,  and  traced 
the  history  of  the  organization  from  its 
beginning,  November  28,  1869,  by 
President  Brigham  Young. 

"Era"  Manager 

John  D.  Giles  began  his  duties  as 
business  manager  of  The  Improve- 
ment Era  in  mid-November.  He  suc- 
ceeds John  K.  Orton,  who  has  moved 
his  home  to  Phoenix,  Arizona.  Elder 
Giles  returned  from  the  Hill  Cumorah, 
Palmyra,  New  York,  where  he  was  di- 
rector of  the  Bureau  of  Information. 

Medical  School  Gift 

Asa  tribute  to  President  Heber  J. 
"^  Grant  on  his  eighty-eighth  birthday, 
November  22,  the  Church  presented  an 
endowment  of  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars  to  the  University  of  Utah  Medi- 
cal School,  to  be  used  to  equip  a  labor- 
atory for  the  department  of  pharmacol- 
ogy and  physiology.  An  appropriate 
plaque  will  be  placed  in  the  laboratory, 
and  the  endowment  will  be  used  entire- 
ly for  the  equipment  and  its  installation. 
President  LeRoy  E.  Cowles  of  the 
university  and  Dean  A.  C.  Callister  of 
the  medicine  school  said: 

...  It  is  with  a  sense  of  deep  gratitude 
that  the  University  of  Utah  in  behalf  of  its 
Medical   School  accepts   this   generous   en- 

.JANUARY,  1945 


dowment  from  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter-day  Saints.  .  .  . 

This  gift  is  very  significant  ...  in  indi- 
cating the  faith  and  confidence  that  the 
presidency  of  the  Church  has  in  the  univer- 
sity in  general  and  in  the  medical  school  in 
particular.  We  are  inspired  to  put  forth 
every  effort  to  merit  the  confidence  which 
the  gift  indicates.  .  .  . 

Cyrus  E.  Dallin  Dies 

C^yrus  E.  Dallin,  native-born  Utah 
^  sculptor,  died  at  his  Arlington, 
Massachusetts,  home,  November  14.  He 
was  eighty-two.  His  works  include  the 
Brigham  Young  statue  at  South  Temple 
and  Main  Streets,  and  the  figure  of  the 
Angel  Moroni  atop  the  Salt  Lake  Tem- 
ple. 

U.S.A.C.  President 

President  Franklin  S.  Harris  of  the 
Brigham  Young  University,  Provo, 
has  been  chosen  president  of  the 
Utah  State  Agricultural  College,  Logan, 
by  the  latter  school's  board  of  regents 
to  succeed  Dr.  E.  G.  Peterson.  Dr. 
Harris  will  take  over  his  new  duties  on 
July  1,  1945,  the  beginning  of  the  fiscal 
year. 

Dr.  Harris,  a  world-known  authority 
on  agriculture  and  irrigation,  has  been 
president  of  B.Y.U.  since  1921. 

Stake  Number  148 

'T'he  one  hundred  forty-eighth  stake  of 
the  Church  was  brought  into  exist- 
ence November  12  when  the  Box  Elder 
Stake  was  divided  to  form  the  North 
Box  Elder  Stake  and  the  South  Box 
Elder  Stake. 

John  P.  Lillywhite  was  named  presi- 
dent of  the  North  Box  Elder  Stake  with 
Vernal  Willie  and  Eberhart  Zundel  as 
counselors.  The  stake  has  a  member- 
ship of  4,333,  which  includes  the  Brig- 
ham City  Third  and  Fourth,  Harper, 
Honeyville,  Bear  River  City,  and  Cor- 
inne  wards  and  the  Evans  Branch. 

The  South  Box  Elder  Stake  has  a 
membership  totaling  4,448  members 
residing  in  the  Willard,  Perry,  Mantua, 
Brigham  City  First,  Second,  Fifth,  and 
Sixth  wards.  President  Abel  S.  Rich 
and  counselors,  Glen  M.  Bennion  and  J. 
Edwin  Baird,  were  sustained  as  the 
stake  presidency,  having  held  the  same 
positions  in  the  Box  Elder  Stake. 

Elder  John  A.  Widtsoe  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  the  Twelve  directed  the  organiza- 
tion proceedings,  assisted  by  Elder 
Samuel  O.  Bennion  of  the  First  Council 
of  the  Seventy. 

Symphony 

HPhe  Rhapsody  for  piano  and  orches- 
tra,  written  by  Professor  LeRoy  J. 
Robertson  director  of  the  Brigham 
Young  University  symphony  orchestra 
was  played  November  28  and  29  in 
Kingsbury  Hall  at  the  University  of 
Utah  campus,  Salt  Lake  City.     It  was 


played  by  Andor  Foldes,  international- 
ly known  pianist,  to  whom  the  rhapsody 
was  dedicated.  Mr.  Foldes  has  appeared 
many  times  in  Provo  on  concert  tours. 

Primary  Secretary  Released 

f  illian  Jensen,  secretary  and  treasur- 
er  of  the  general  board  of  the  Pri- 
mary Association  since  August  1943, 
was  released  from  her  duties  in  mid- 
November,  when  she  married  and 
moved  to  California. 


M' 


Primary  General  Board  Changes 

[rs.  Leone  Poulton  Cowley  and 
Mrs.  Mary  Pratt  Parrish  have 
been  appointed  to  the  Primary  general 
board.  Mrs.  Cowley,  a  member  of  the 
Salt  Lake  City  Twenty-seventh  Ward, 
has  been  a  lifelong  ward  and  stake  Pri- 
mary Association  worker.  Mrs.  Par- 
rish has  labored  in  the  Sunday  School, 
Relief  Society,  and  M.I.A.  at  Center- 
ville,  Utah.  She  has  served  as  a  member 
of  both  the  Bonneville  and  Highland 
Stake  Primary  boards. 

Mrs.  Edith  Smith  Patrick  has  also 
been  named  to  the  Primary  board.  She 
brings  a  wealth  of  experience  gained  in 
the  Primary  Association,  M.I.A.,  and 
seminary  of  the  Ensign  Stake. 

At  the  same  time  three  general  board 
members  were  honorably  released:  Mrs. 
Grace  Wahlquist,  state  chairman  of 
the  Utah  Minute  Women  affiliated  with 
the  War  Production  Board,  and  Jessie 
Schofield,  recreational  director  at  Pro- 
vo, Utah,  both  of  whom  have  been  on 
leave  of  absence  since  1942;  and  Ruth 
B.  Coon,  who  recently  moved  to  Phoe- 
nix, Arizona. 

Sunday  School  General  Board 

Appointment  of  James  L.  Barker, 
former  president  of  the  Argentine 
Mission,  to  the  general  board  of  the 
Deseret  Sunday  School  Union  has  been 
announced  by  General  Superintendent 
Milton  Bennion.  Elder  Barker  was  a 
member  of  the  general  board  from  1 928 
until  the  board  was  reorganized  several 
years  ago.  At  that  time  he  was  ap- 
pointed as  president  of  the  Argentine 
Mission. 

Genealogical  Society  Head 

P"lder  Joseph  Fielding  Smith  of  the 
Council  of  the  Twelve  has  been  re- 
named president  of  the  Genealogical 
Society  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter-day  Saints,  as  the  name  of  the 
organization  was  changed  from  the 
Genealogical  Society  of  Utah  in  late 
November.  The  following  directors 
were  reappointed:  Elders  Joseph  Field- 
ing Smith,  John  A.  Widtsoe,  and  Mark 

E.  Petersen    of    the    Council    of    the 
Twelve,  Joseph  Christenson,  Archibald 

F.  Bennett,  A.  William  Lund,  and  James 
M.  Kirkham. 

(Continued  on  page  43) 
25 


,tfMgmm 


By  RICHARD  L  EVANS 


QJcDtPi 


I 


:■:>.■:■•>:■:<■■>:■<!<<< 


HEARD  FROM  THE  "CROSSROADS  OF  THE  WEST"  WITH  THE  SALT  LAKE  TaBER- 
nacle  Choir  and  Organ  over  a  nationwide  radio  network  through 
KSL  and  the  Columbia  Broadcasting  System  every  Sunday  at  12:00  noon 
Eastern  War  Time,  11:00  a.m.  Central  War  Time,  10:00  a.m.  Mountain 
War  Time,  and  9:00  a.m.  Pacific  War  Time. 


\Jn  l^roblna  the  ^Jut 


lure 


\Jvi  ~J\viowLvig  the  ^j/nt 


9 


rMre 


Men,  it  would  seem,  have  in  common  an  urgent  desire 
to  know  more  about  the  future — a  desire  which  dem- 
onstrates itself  in  many  ways,  and  for  many  reasons.  And 
in  some  respects  and  to  some  extent  the  future  may  and 
should  be  known.  For  example,  a  science  has  grown  up 
to  help  us  forecast  something  as  to  the  future  of  weather 
conditions,  which  is  of  much  value  to  all  of  us.  To  know 
something  concerning  the  future  of  private  wants  and 
needs  helps  the  manufacturer  and  the  merchant  to  avoid 
some  of  the  hazards  of  chance — and  to  this  end  we  have 
our  business  forecasts.  The  broad  lines  of  the  future,  so 
far  as  the  plan  and  purpose  of  life  are  concerned,  as  well 
as  specific  forthcoming  events,  have  often  been  foretold 
by  the  prophets,  when  the  purposes  of  God  were  served 
thereby.  But  the  desire  to  know  the  future  may  become  an 
inordinate  desire — so  much  so  that  there  are  some  who  feel 
they  cannot  rest  unless  they  can  know  the  unknowable  and 
see  the  unseeable,  and  who,  to  this  end,  place  their  con- 
fidence in  those  who  profess,  for  a  price,  to  tell  what  irrev- 
ocable events  the  fates  have  decreed,  as  revealed  in  the 
stars,  the  tea  leaves,  in  the  cutting  of  the  cards,  in  the 
crystal,  or  by  some  other  occult  means.  In  our  learned 
twentieth  century  we  have  sometimes  given  ourselves  to 
believe  that  we  have  left  witchcraft  and  mummery  and 
superstition  behind — and  then  we  cling  to  much  of  it.  In 
the  wisdom  of  God  it  has  not  been  given  to  us  to  pry  the 
lid  off  the  future  at  our  indiscriminate  discretion.  It  has 
been  so  ordered  that  in  many  things  we  shall  live  by  faith, 
and  meet  the  events  of  life  as  they  come.  If  the  stars  were 
fixed  and  the  pattern  of  our  lives  were  fixed  with  them — if 
the  future  were  already  set  in  its  mold — then  the  next 
logical  conclusion  would  be  that  it  doesn't  matter  how  we 
live  or  what  we  do  with  our  lives — the  result  would  be 
the  same  anyway.  But  such  philosophy  is  false  and  un- 
tenable. This  is  a  world  of  causes  and  effects  in  which  free 
will  operates  and  in  which  men  may  expect  with  certainty 
to  realize  the  effects  of  the  causes  they  set  in  motion.  And 
if  there  are  things  in  our  lives  that  ought  to  be  changed,  it's 
up  to  us  to  change  them.  If  there  are  pitfalls  that  should 
be  avoided,  it's  up  to  us  to  do  our  best  to  avoid  them.  A 
fatalistic  attitude  toward  the  future  is  a  destroyer  of  initia- 
tive, a  breeder  of  despondency,  an  enslaver  of  men,  a 
false  premise  of  life.  There  is  a  law  irrevocably  decreed  in 
the  heavens  on  which  all  blessings  are  predicated,  and  our 
future  will  be  what  we  make  it,  according  to  our  conduct 
and  within  the  limits  of  law,  and  not  because  the  stars  are 

fixed,  or  the  cards  fall  black  or  red. 

— November  5,  1944. 


A 


mong  the  frequent  and  persistent  questions  concerning 
the  future  are  these:  "Why  can't  we  know  the  future?" 
and  "Why  shouldn't  we  know  the  future?"  There  are  a 
number  of  possible  answers,  perhaps  none  of  them  fully 
satisfying— but  all  of  them  very  much  in  point — and  one 
possible  answer  would  seem  to  be  that  oftentimes  we  can't 
know  more  about  the  future  because  oftentimes  it  doesn't 
exist.  By  this  we  mean  that  many  things  that  will  happen 
in  the  future  will  depend  upon  what  we  do  and  upon  what 
others  do,  and  since  neither  we  nor  they  may  yet  have  made 
decisions  in  these  matters,  the  results  that  are  to  follow 
those  decisions  may  not  now  be  known.  Yet  another  reason, 
and  an  all-sufficient  one  for  many,  is  that  he  who  directs 
the  affairs  of  the  universe,  he  who  is  the  author  of  the 
plan  of  life,  and  the  Eternal  Father  of  men,  has  decreed  in 
his  wisdom  that  we  should  not  in  most  instances  know  what 
the  future  shall  bring,  even  as  it  is  not  now  given  to  us 
to  have  remembrance  of  what  preceded  birth.  For  those 
who  would  like  still  other  reasons,  suppose  we  ask  our- 
selves what  kind  of  life  it  would  be  if  we  did  know  every- 
thing that  was  going  to  happen  to  us.  Actually,  a  detailed 
foreknowledge  of  trials  and  tragedies  to  come  might  well 
be  expected  to  destroy  much  of  the  happiness  that  is.  Also, 
in  knowing  the  future,  there  would  be  less  of  the  joy  of 
discovery  and  less  of  the  growth  that  comes  with  faith 
and  struggle.  Imagine  the  monotony,  the  humdrum  of  a 
life  in  which  each  hour,  each  day,  each  year,  everyone 
knows  everything  he  is  going  to  do,  everything  that  is 
going  to  happen — nothing  of  the  unexpected,  nothing  of 
the  unforeseen,  no  pleasant  surprises,  no  unlooked-for  joys, 
no  merciful  concealing  of  the  sorrows  and  heartaches  to 
come — everything  in  a  lump  sum  right  now,  and  nothing 
in  reserve.  This,  of  course,  is  carrying  speculation  to  an 
absurdity,  but  it  does  invite  attention  to  the  wisdom  of 
things  as  they  are.  And  if  there  were  some  clandestine 
means  of  acquiring  a  detailed  knowledge  of  the  events  to 
come  in  our  own  lives,  it  still  wouldn't  bring  us  happiness. 
We  had  better  learn  to  live  by  faith  from  day  to  day,  and  by 
good  works  coupled  with  our  faith,  ready  to  meet  the  future 
whatever  it  brings,  confident  that  the  mercy  and  the  wisdom 
and  the  justice  of  God  will  give  to  each  of  us,  all  that  we 
could  ever  hope  for  or  expect,  for  our  good  and  our  eternal 
happiness.  They  who  know  what  it  were  better  not  to 
know,  are  much  less  happy  than  they  who  think  they  would 

like  to  know  some  things  they  don't. 

—November  12,  1944. 


26 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


tetrn  IMbojOg 


p&» 


\Jn   *JjL5  regarding  the  -jrvit 


Jidreaardvviq 


are 


A  ll  of  us  at  times  deplore  mistakes  we  have  made  in  the 
past  and  ask  why  we  couldn't  have  known  the  future 
and  thereby  have  avoided  our  mistakes.  Of  all  the  reasons 
given  by  men  for  their  desire  to  know  the  future,  this  one 
would  seem  to  be  the  most  valid — to  help  us  avoid  mistakes. 
But  even  this  reason  might  readily  be  ruled  out  when  we 
remind  ourselves  how  often  we  ignore  even  those  things 
we  do  know — both  about  the  present  and  the  future — and 
how  often  we  ignore  those  things  which  the  past  has  taught 
us  about  the  future.  We  already  know  the  future  in  prin- 
ciple. Causes  which  have  once  produced  specific  effects 
may  again  be  expected  to  produce  the  same  effects.  This 
is  the  process  of  law.  This  is  why  man  may,  in  some 
respects,  plan  for  things  to  come.  But  the  fact  that  the 
future  may  in  some  degree  be  judged  by  the  past  does  not 
prevent  our  repeating  the  mistakes  of  the  past,  and  dis- 
regarding its  lessons.  Even  when  the  prophets  have  opened 
the  future  and  forewarned  their  own  generations  of  things 
to  come,  they  have  been  rejected  more  often  than  not. 
Indeed,  we  often  repeat  our  own  mistakes,  knowing  full 
well  that  they  are  mistakes,  and  much  of  what  we  know 
with  certainty,  even  about  the  present,  we  often  ignore  in 
practice.  We  know  many  of  the  rules  of  health,  but  often 
fail  to  observe  them.  We  know  many  of  the  rules  of  hap- 
piness, which  we  often  ignore.  We  know  that  if  we  dis- 
regard law,  we  shall  pay  the  consequences — but  still  there 
are  many  who  disregard  the  law.  It  would  seem,  then,  that 
a  certainty  of  knowledge  of  the  past,  the  present,  or  the 
future  does  not  keep  us  from  our  mistakes,  because,  in  our 
conduct  and  in  all  the  pattern  of  our  lives,  we  disregard 
so  much  of  what  we  do  know.  And  this  admission  leads 
to  the  conclusion  that  greater  knowledge  of  the  future  is 
not  our  most  urgent  need.  It  is  more  important  to  know 
correct  principles  and  to  observe  tnem,  than  it  is  to  know 
the  future.  Observing  correct  principles  will  save  us  ma- 
terially and  spiritually,  but  merely  knowing  the  future  and 
then  ignoring  correct  principles  will  never  save  anyone, 
materially  or  spiritually.  To  know  how  to  live,  and  to  live 
that  way,  is  so  much  more  fundamental  than  to  know  a 
few  fragments  of  the  future  pertaining  to  ourselves  or 
others.  To  know  the  commandments  of  God  and  to  keep 
them,  to  know  the  rules  of  life  and  to  live  them,  will  lead 
to  the  certainty  of  a  glorious  future  whether  we  know  it  in 

detail  or  not. 

—November  19,  1944. 


is  one  thing  stronger  than  all  the  armies  in  the  world; 
and  that  is  an  idea  whose  time  has  arrived."  We  are  so 
accustomed  to  think  and  to  speak  in  terms  of  money  and 
lands  and  goods  that  we  may  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that 
behind  all  tangible  forces  is  the  greater  force  of  intangibles 
—the  thoughts  of  men,  the  forces  beyond  men,  and  the  ideas 
and  motives  and  principles  that  put  tangibles  to  good  or 
evil  purposes.  Behind  any  physical  contest  there  is  always 
inevitably  a  contest  of  wills.  Behind  tangible  weapons,  the 
impact  of  which  we  can  readily  see,  there  is  always  the 
force  of  ideas  which  is  not  so  readily  observable  but  which 
is  more  formidable,  more  persistent,  than  the  effect  of 
physical  force.  The  most  effective  character  who  ever  lived 
among  men,  Jesus  the  Christ,  is  seldom  recorded  to  have 
dealt  in  tangibles  or  to  rely  upon  the  physical  forces  of  this 
earth — and  yet  he  transformed  the  humblest  of  men  into 
mighty  movers  of  the  world;  he  modified  the  thoughts  of 
men,  and,  therefore,  modified  the  shape  of  tangible  things 
for  all  time  to  come.  It  is  thrilling  to  be  able  to  reshape 
the  face  of  mountains,  to  bridge  rivers,  to  link  oceans,  to 
rear  structures  for  the  comfort  and  convenience  of  men.  It 
is  glorious  to  harvest  abundantly,  to  fill  the  world's  store- 
houses with  the  gifts  of  Providence;  to  feed  and  to  clothe, 
to  provide  man's  needs  and  comforts,  and  even  luxuries. 
The  physical  forces  of  earth  and  the  tangibles  that  we 
may  see  and  touch  all  about  us  are  a  blessing  to  our  lives, 
or  may  be  so— but  behind  all  this  is,  first,  the  thinking 
and  planning  of  someone— of  men  or  of  God  or  of  both— 
the  ideas,  the  ideals,  the  creative  gifts,  the  intangible  forces 
which  move  and  shape  the  world  and  shape  the  lives  of 
men.  There  have  been  many  characters  of  history  who 
have  come  near  to  conquering  the  world  in  a  physical  sense, 
and  many  who  have  tried  to  force  wrong  ideas  upon  man- 
kind, and  who  have  created  much  of  disturbance  in  their 
attempts.  But  there  have  been  none  who  could  stop  men 
from  moving  toward  the  knowledge  of  truth,  none  who 
could  stop  the  emergence  of  an  idea  whose  time  had  arrived. 
But  the  time  for  an  idea  never  arrives,  unless  it  is  founded 
in  truth,  in  justice,  and  in  freedom.  This  much,  and  no  less, 
we  must  ask  of  all  the  ideas  that  present  themselves  for  our 

acceptance. 

—November  26,  1944. 


Copyright.  1945. 


^Atn,  Jrdt 


mue 


lAJkoie  Ul 

J" 


ime 


A  much-quoted  thought,  recorded 

by  the  pen  of  Victor  Hugo, 
has  come  down  the  years  for 
our  pondering :   "There 


JANUARY,  1945 


27 


Editorials 

^Arnd  the  v->ook&    Were   \Jpened 

""Dehold,  there  shall  be  a  record  kept  among  you. . . ." 

**  (D.SC.21:1.) 

This  revelation  was  received  by  the  Prophet  Joseph 
Smith  on  April  6,  1830.  It  is  vitally  significant  that  on 
the  very  day  the  Church  was  organized,  the  question  of 
record-keeping  was  made  a  matter  of  commandment. 
There  were  many  other  matters  of  instruction  for  which 
the  Church  had  to  wait  for  a  later  time,  but  the  in- 
structions to  keep  records  was  immediate,  which  would 
seem  to  give  some  indication  of  the  importance  which 
the  Lord  places  upon  records. 

Also,  from  a  revelation  given  November  27,  1 832,  at 
Kirtland,  Ohio,  we  read: 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  Lord's  clerk,  whom  he  has  appointed,  to 
keep  a  history,  and  a  general  church  record  of  all  things  that 
transpire  in  Zion.  .  .  . 

And  also  their  manner  of  life,  their  faith,  and  works.  .  .  . 

And  they  who  are  of  the  high  Priesthood,  whose  names  are 
not  found  written  in  the  book  of  the  law,  or  that  are  found  to 
have  apostatized,  or  to  have  been  cut  off  from  the  church, 
as  well  as  the  lesser  priesthood,  or  the  members,  in  that  day 
shall  not  find  an  inheritance  among  the  saints  of  the  Most 
High. . . .  (D.  &  C.  85:1,  2,  11.)   (Italics  ours.) 

Later,  in  section  1 28  this  appears : 

Whatsoever  you  record  on  earth  shall  be  recorded  in 
heaven.  .  . . 

It  may  seem  to  some  to  be  a  very  bold  doctrine  that  we  talk 
of — a  power  which  records  or  binds  on  earth  and  binds  in 
heaven.  Nevertheless,  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  whenever  the 
Lord  has  given  a  dispensation  of  the  priesthood  to  any  man 
by  actual  revelation,  or  any  set  of  men,  this  power  has  always 
been  given.  Hence,  whatsoever  those  men  did  in  authority, 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  did  it  truly  and  faithfully,  and 
kept  a  proper  and  faithful  record  of  the  same,  it  became  a  law 
on  earth  and  in  heaven,  and  could  not  be  annulled,  according 
to  the  decrees  of  the  great  Jehovah.  This  is  a  faithful  saying. 
Who  can  hear  it?    (D.  &  C.  128:8,  9.)   (Italics  ours.) 

From  the  earliest  of  times  our  Father  in  heaven  has 
commanded  his  children  to  keep  records  of  all  their 
doings,  and  especially  of  their  official  acts  in  relation 
to  his  works  and  ordinances,  and  of  their  lives  as  it 
may  concern  their  obedience  and  faithfulness  to  the 
principles  of  the  gospel.  The  statement  that  "whatso- 
ever shall  be  recorded  on  earth,  shall  be  recorded  in 
heaven,"  is  one  which  no  man  may  ignore.  The  testi- 
mony of  witnesses  and  of  records  will  assuredly  play 
an  important  part  in  the  judgments  to  come,  both  here 
and  hereafter. 

There  are  many  other  scriptural  evidences  available 
to  the  Latter-day  Saints  of  the  prime  importance  of 
records,  both  in  the  plans  and  purposes  of  God  and  in 
the  lives  of  his  children.  It  may  be  recalled  that  the 
Lord  sent  Nephi  and  his  brothers  back  to  Jerusalem  to 
risk  their  lives  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  record 
of  their  fathers  in  order  that  a  nation  would  not 
"dwindle  and  perish  in  unbelief." 

It  is  by  records  that  we  are  linked  with  the  past.  It 
is  by  the  keeping  of  records  by  faithful  and  inspired  men 
that  we  have  our  scripture  of  the  eternal  truths  of  life. 
It  is  by  the  keeping  of  records  that  we  may  pass  on  the 
experiences  of  all  time  from  one  generation  to  another, 
that  we  may  know  the  mistakes  of  history,  that  we  may 
know  the  errors  into  which  other  men  have  fallen  and 
so  avoid  them  ourselves — if  the  records  have  been  faith- 
fully kept,  and  if  we  are  wise  enough  to  give  heed  to 
the  records. 

Every  man  faces  his  own  record  in  life.  Every  posi- 
tion, every  appointment,  every  decision  made  by  others 


and  affecting  us  is  based  partly  on  what  they  know  of 
us  by  first-hand  knowledge,  and  partly  on  what  the 
records  show.  Every  man  who  enters  the  armed  forces 
of  his  country  carries  with  him  wherever  he  goes  a 
record  of  his  military  conduct  in  all  its  phases,  which 
qualifies  all  decisions  concerning  him.  Every  student 
must  carry  with  him  a  transcript  of  his  record  wherever 
he  goes  to  pursue  further  academic  activities. 

The  beginning  of  the  new  year  is  the  traditional  time 
for  beginning  new  records.  The  priesthood  quorums  of 
the  Church,  in  accordance  with  the  recommendations 
of  the  Melchizedek  Priesthood  committee  acting  under 
the  direction  of  the  quorum  of  the  Twelve  and  the  First 
Presidency,  have  been  asked  to  begin  a  new  system  of 
record  keeping  and  reporting  for  those  holding  the 
priesthood.  The  effectiveness  and  usefulness  of  these 
reports  will  depend  upon  the  faithfulness  and  accuracy 
of  those  who  keep  the  records.  If  the  records  are  in- 
complete, conclusions  and  future  actions  based  on  those 
conclusions,  may  be  necessarily  incomplete.  If  the  rec- 
ords are  inaccurate,  the  findings  of  those  who  interpret 
the  records,  and  the  recommendations  they  may  make 
for  the  future,  may  likewise  be  inaccurate. 

Those  who  keep  the  records  of  this  Church  have  a 
sacred  trust,  one  which  was  imposed  by  the  Lord  him- 
self. And  it  is  vitally  important  that  everyone  who  is 
charged  with  record  keeping  be  diligent  and  faithful, 
as  to  personal  records,  family  records,  class  records, 
quorum  records,  and  ward  and  stake  and  general  rec- 
ords— whatever  their  private  or  official  capacity  and 
responsibilities,  for  it  is  written: 

And  I  saw  the  dead,  small  and  great,  stand  before  God;  and 
the  books  were  opened:  and  another  book  was  opened,  which 
is  the  book  of  life:  and  the  dead  were  judged  out  of  those 
things  which  were  written  in  the  books,  according  to  their 
works.    (Rev.  20:12.) 

And  again,  let  all  the  records  be  had  in  order,  .  .  .  to  be  held 
in  remembrance  from  generation  to  generation,  saith  the  Lord 
of  Hosts.  (  D.GC.  127:9.) 

—R.  L.  E. 


If  few  IJear'd    lAJiik 


Probably  no  season  of  the  year  has  more  of  promise 
*"  than  the  New  Year,  for  it  seems  to  exert  a  kind  of 
magical  influence  that  makes  the  wished-for,  a  reality, 
and  the  dreamed-of,  a  fact.  Resolutions  at  this  season 
of  the  year  seem  easy  of  accomplishment;  and  their 
mere  statement  seems  to  assure  their  realization.  In 
many  ways,  this  quality  of  being  able  to  live  in  dreams 
is  a  virtue.  Shakespeare  said,  'We  are  such  stuff  as 
dreams  are  made  on,"  and  truly  dreams  shape  life,  in- 
dividually and  collectively,  for  the  dream  of  what  is  to 
be  must  always  precede  reality. 

Today  the  world  needs  dreams;  and  the  time  has 
arrived  when  the  dream  of  peace,  which  has  persisted 
since  the  world  began,  should  become  a  fact.  This  espe- 
cial dream  is  a  peculiar  one:  it  cannot  be  dreamed  by 
one  person  alone;  it  must  be  dreamed  by  all  people 
everywhere.  It  must  be  accepted  as  the  best  possible 
way  of  life  by  all  folk  regardless  of  race  or  color  or 
creed,  regardless  of  nationality. 

A  fitting  New  Year's  wish  for  this  and  every  year 
would  be  that  mothers  throughout  the  world  accept  this 
dream  of  peace,  and  labor  to  instill  into  their  young 
folk  the  necessity  of  making  this  dream  a  reality  in  their 
lifetime.  It  is  time  that  motners  of  the  world,  in  addition 
to  bearing  children,  should  indoctrinate  them  with  a 
love  of  their  fellow  men  and  a  desire  for  peace  that  will 
make  the  connivings  of  selfish  men  impossible.  Mothers 
of  men  can  teach  the  ways  of  peace  in  their  own  homes, 
at  their  own  firesides. 

This  New  Year's  wish  is  that  throughout  the  years 
ahead  the  dream  of  peace  may  become  a  reality — a  way 
of  life,  as  the  Savior  taught  so  long  ago.- — M.  C.  J, 


28 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


Evidences  and 
reconciliations 

IxxxuiiL    l/l/hu  U  r^elncamation  a 

praise   dJoctrine  f 

Reincarnation,  often  known  as  metapsychosis,  is  an 
A^  ancient  doctrine.  It  dates  from  the  earliest  corrup- 
tion of  truth,  from  the  very  dawn  of  human  history, 
when  mankind  first  departed  from  the  simple  principles 
of  the  gospel.  In  some  form  it  has  existed  at  all  times 
in  all  lands.  It  is  an  excellent  example  of  the  distortion 
of  beautiful,  fundamental  truths. 

Reincarnation,  as  commonly  taught,  means  that  the 
spirit  or  "soul"  of  a  human  being,  after  the  death  of 
the  person,  and  after  intervals  of  varying  duration, 
returns  to  earth  in  another  body.  This  may  occur  fre- 
quently, indeed  may  be  a  continuous,  unending  process. 

Usually  it  is  taught  that  the  spirit  inhabits  from  time 
to  time  bodies  of  the  same  species.  That  is,  the  spirit 
of  a  man  will  reappear  on  earth  as  a  man;  a  woman  as 
a  woman;  a  human  being  as  a  human  being.  This  may 
not,  however,  always  be  the  case.  Many  believers  in 
reincarnation  hold  that  a  "soul"  which  is  a  man  today, 
may  be  a  woman  tomorrow,  or  vice  versa.  It  is  also 
often  taught  that  the  spirit  of  a  man  may  in  the  next 
earthly  incarnation,  inhabit  the  body  of  a  lower  animal, 
say  a  dog  or  a  cat.  There  is  not  full  agreement  among 
reincarnationists  on  many  of  these  matters. 

Under  this  doctrine  our  next-door  neighbor  may  be 
the  reincarnation  of  a  man  or  a  woman  who  lived  cen- 
turies ago;  our  bootblack  may  be  the  reincarnation  of 
one  of  the  great  philosophers  of  the  past;  our  school- 
teacher may  have  been  an  untutored  savage  a  thousand 
years  ago;  our  present  dog,  Sanko,  may  be  nothing 
else  than  our  dog,  Fido,  long  since  dead  in  a  more 
recent  incarnation.  And  what  is  worse,  the  animating 
essence,  the  "soul,"  of  Sanko,  may  be  the  former  "soul" 
of  a  Newton,  or  a  Galileo,  or  a  Plato!  Or,  the  wife  who 
cooks  our  meals  for  us,  may  have  been  in  an  earlier 
reincarnation,  the  Queen  of  Sheba.  Or,  still  more  to  our 
confusion,  a  man's  wife  might  have  been  his  husband 
when  he  was  a  woman  in  an  earlier  reincarnation. 

Three  doctrines  lie  at  the  foundation  of  belief  in  re- 
incarnation. First,  the  pre-existence  of  the  "soul"  of 
man;  second,  the  indestructibility  of  the  "soul"  of  man 
after  death;  and,  third,  the  possibility  of  constant  de- 
velopment of  the  pre-existent,  eternal  "soul."  These 
are  all  necessary  doctrines  to  the  thinking  mind.  They 
are  supported  by  divine  revelation.  But  in  the  explana- 
tions and  applications  of  these  truths,  the  proponents 
of  reincarnation  have  failed  dismally,  and  have  shown 
how  the  semblance  of  truth,  becoming  untruth,  may  lead 
men  into  vast  fields  of  deception. 

The  basic  doctrine  of  pre-existence  is  always  pre- 
sented in  an  incomplete  form.  Clearly,  if  the  "soul"  of 
man  has  occupied  from  time  to  time  successive  and 
distinct  bodies,  birth  cannot  be  the  beginning  of  his 
"soul."  There  must  be  existence  before  each  successive 
embodiment. 

But  what  about  the  first  incarnation? 

One  group  sidestep  the  question  by  saying  that  before 
the  first  appearance  on  earth,  God  created  the  "soul." 
That  merely  means  that  after  all,  the  spirit  is  not  really 
eternal.  Since  it  began  on  earth,  it  may  end  with  the 
earth. 

Another  group  of  believers  in  reincarnation,  sensing 


the  inadequacy  of  this  explanation,  seek  refuge  in  the 
doctrine  that  the  "souls"  of  men  began  their  existence 
as  lower  animals,  and  then  they  add  that  "in  the  lower 
kingdoms  consciousness  evolves  in  the  mass, ...  as  these 
group  souls  slowly  develop, .  .  .  they  continually  divide 
and  subdivide."1  Finally,  by  some  mysterious  process 
these  animals,  subdivisions  of  the  mass,  acquire  a  "soul" 
and  become  human  beings.  All  of  which  is  merely  saying 
that  there  is  an  "ocean  of  consciousness,"  out  of  which 
God  dips  individuals. 

Contrast  these  feeble,  lame,  and  incomprehensible 
explanations  with  the  true  doctrine  of  pre-existence, 
as  taught  in  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  spirit  of 
man  is  co-eternal  with  God.  In  the  eternities  before 
he  came  on  earth  he  has  been  a  personality,  possessing 
the  power  to  think  and  learn,  to  accept  or  reject  the 
means  by  which  he  could  ascend  or  descend,  progress 
or  retrograde.  He  has  been  himself  from  the  endless 
beginning  through  all  the  waiting  eternities. 

Reincarnation  rests  upon  an  unsound  foundation; 
hence  is  dangerous,  and  should  be  avoided. 

The  conditions  of  reincarnation  by  which  the  im- 
mortal "soul"  may  progress  are  equally  unacceptable. 
"Reincarnation  ...  is  a  plan  whereby  imperishable  con- 
scious beings  are  supplied  with  physical  bodies  ap- 
propriate to  their  stage  of  growth  and  through  which 
they  can  come  in  contact  with  the  lessons  of  physical 
life."2  This  supplying  of  bodies  is  repeated  endlessly. 
By  this  doctrine,  the  body  of  man  is  of  little  conse- 
quence. We  take  it  on,  cast  it  off,  and  put  on  another 
one,  much  as  we  do  with  our  old  suits  of  clothing.  The 
"soul"  of  man  is  then  really  confined  to  this  earth  as 
in  a  prison.  Why  this  should  be  so,  baffles  the  mind. 
His  sojourn  between  incarnations  can  be  of  no  value 
to  him,  since  he  must  return  to  earth  in  a  mortal  body 
to  gain  further  experience.  He  is  of  the  earth,  earthy. 
He  cannot  in  reality  go  beyond  the  earth  or  physical 
experiences.  Therefore,  an  infinity  of  experiences  are 
beyond  his  reach.  The  universe  is  not  his.  Such  an 
eternal  "soul"  demands  a  vaster  area  of  understanding 
and  action  than  the  earthly  life  affords.  There  is  no 
freedom  in  reincarnation. 

Reincarnation  fails  utterly  to  comprehend  the  mean- 
ing of  the  human  body. 

The  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  declares  that  man,  an 
eternal  spirit,  acquainted  with  the  spiritual  world,  came 
upon  the  earth  when  he  was  fitted  and  permitted  to 
become  acquainted  with  the  material  world.  To  this 
end  he  was  given  a  body  of  material  elements.  This 
body  belongs  to  him  eternally,  to  be  used  by  him,  in  a 
purified  form,  in  his  endless  progressive  journey  among 
spiritual  and  material  realities.  He  does  not  need  an- 
other. It  is  a  sacred  possession,  the  home  of  his  eternal 
spirit.  With  it,  composed  of  celestialized  material  ele- 
ments, he  may  forever  explore  the  universe,  in  all  its 
aspects,  even  to  the  limits  of  eternity.  Without  such  a 
body,  the  immortal  spirit  would  be  handicapped  in  its 
victorious  progress,  in  the  midst  of  universal  elements, 
towards  the  likeness  of  God.  Reincarnation  has  gone 
far  afield  to  explain  that  which  the  Lord  has  made  clear 
to  the  human  mind. 

The  doctrine  of  reincarnation  really  destroys  person- 
ality as  connected  with  earth  life.  The  perpetual  pas- 
sage of  spirits  from  body  to  body  on  earth,  implies  that 
the  Lord  is  using  the  earth  as  a  playground  for  a  few 
spirits.  As  one  writer  remarks,  the  soul  of  the  ancient 
patriarch  Seth  was  probably  the  spirit  of  the  great 
prophet  Moses.  Thus,  individuality  on  the  earth  is  lost. 
Temporal  identification  is  hopelessly  confused.  There 
is  no  end  to  the  disorder,  for  the  process  of  reincarna- 
tion is  unending.   That  violates  the  innate  desire,  even 

{Concluded  on  page  55) 

hooper,  Reincarnation,  p.  48 
•Ibid.,  p.  17 


JANUARY.  1945 


29 


o\\e(c(ii3  ei  eFPriest  (wo  A 

CONDUCTED   BY   THE   MELCHIZEDEK   PRIESTHOOD   COMMITTEE   OF   THE  COUNCIL   OF   THE  TWELVE— JOSEPH   FIELDING   SMITH, 

CHAIRMAN;    CHARLES  A.  CALLIS,  HAROLD  B.  LEE,  EZRA  TAFT  BENSON,  MARION  G.  ROMNEY,  THOMAS  E.  MCKAY,  CLIFFORD 

E.  YOUNG,  ALMA  SONNE,  NICHOLAS  G.  SMITH,  LEVI  EDGAR  YOUNG,  ANTOINE  R.  IVINS,  RUFUS  K.  HARDY 


Confidential  Annual  Reports 

(~\n  December  15, 1944,  a  supply  of  the 
V'  new  confidential  annual  report 
forms  were  mailed  to  all  stake  presi- 
dencies in  quantities  sufficient  for  dis- 
tribution to  all  Melchizedek  Priesthood 


CORRECTION 

Through  an  inadvertence,  refer- 
ence to  Alma  (Book  of  Mormon) 
item  11,  Part  Two  of  the  Confidential 
Annual  Report  should  read  Alma  34: 
18-27. 


quorums.  Stake  presidencies  have  been 
Urged  to  make  distribution  promptly, 
through  stake  Melchizedek  Priesthood 
committees,  to  all  quorum  officers. 
I  It  will  save  time  and  result  in  more 
accurate  reporting  if  quorum  officers 
read  carefully  all  instructions  in  the 
report  forms  before  attempting  to  com- 
plete the  report.  These  reports  are  to 
be  completed  and  mailed  to  the  Coun- 
cil of  the  Twelve,  47  East  South  Tem- 
ple Street,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  on  or 
before  January  15,  1945. 

Stake  Melchizedek  Priesthood  com- 
mittees are  charged  with  the  responsi- 
bility of  directing  the  completion,  as- 
sembling, and  mailing  of  these  reports. 
In  order  to  expedite  this  work  stake 
committees  will  no  doubt  wish  to  call 
quorum  officers  together  promptly  or 
visit  them  in  order  to  give  direction  and 
impetus  to  this  important  work. 

The  instructions  should  be  detached 
and  kept  in  quorum  files  and  the  single 
page  report  mailed  to  Salt  Lake  City. 

Distribution  of  the  New 
Melchizedek  Priesthood 
Supplies 

All  Melchizedek  Priesthood  group 
f^  and  quorum  supplies  will  be  mailed 
to  stake  presidencies  from  the  Mel- 
chizedek Priesthood  Committee  of  the 
Council  of  Twelve  for  distribution 
through  stake  Melchizedek  Priesthood 
committees,  of  which  a  member  of  the 
stake  presidency  is  chairman.  The  new 
Confidential  Annual  Report  forms  were 
mailed  to  stake  presidencies  Decem- 
ber 15,  1944.  The  rolls,  reports,  min- 
ute books,  etc.,  will  follow  as  they  come 
from  the  press. 

Future  orders  for  quorums  within  a 
stake  should  be  pooled  and  placed 
through  the  stake  committee.  If  in  spe- 
cial cases  stake  committees  desire  a 
modification  of  this  plan,  they  should 
state  their  request  in  placing  the  order. 
Generally  speaking,  however,  all  cor- 
respondence between  the  office  of  the 

30 


general  Melchizedek  Priesthood  com- 
mittee of  the  Council  of  Twelve  and 
Melchizedek  Priesthood  quorum  of- 
ficers and  group  leaders  in  the  stakes 
will  be  through  the  stake  Melchizedek 
Priesthood  committee  which  has  gen- 
eral stake  direction  of  Melchizedek 
Priesthood  work. 


May  we  again  urge  stake  committees 
to  study  carefully  the  instructions  with 
quorum  and  group  officers  before  at- 
tempting the  use  of  any  of  the  new 
forms.  Such  preliminary  study  will 
save  the  time  of  priesthood  officers  and 
increase  the  accuracy  and  value  of  the 
reports. 


Melchizedek  Priesthood  Outline  of  Study,  February,  1945 

Text:    The  Gospel  Kingdom:  Selections  from  the 
Writings  and  Discourses  of  John  Taylor 


LESSONS  52-53 

The  Idea  of  the  Kingdom  of  God 

Text:  pp.  205-216.  Topics:  A  Theory  of 
Government.  A  Christian  Concept.  Mor- 
mon Political  Thought.  Priesthood:  The 
Government  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  A 
Literal  or  Spiritual  Kingdom.  John  Taylor's 
Belief.  Relation  of  the  Church  and  Priest- 
hood (major  topic).  The  Role  of  the  Peo- 
ple   (major  topic). 

Suggestion:  An  article  in  the  December 
1944  Era,  "The  War,  The  Church,  and  the 
Future"  brings  together  in  fragmentary 
form  a  number  of  unusual  source  materials 
on  the  Latter-day  Saint  idea  of  the  kingdom 
of  God.  This  and  other  book  materials  (con- 
sult the  indices  of  leading  doctrinal  works) 
will  help  provide  background  for  this  im- 
portant subject.  The  index  to  the  Doctrine 
and  Covenants  should  not  be  overlooked. 
It  is  a  standing  source-book  for  every  teach- 
er. 

Questions  for  discussion:  What  is  the 
form  of  government  for  the  kingdom  of  God? 
How  would,  how  does  it,  compare  with  the 
patriarchal,  monarchial,  republican  (repre- 
sentative ) ,  dicatorial  forms?  How  does 
Mormon  political  thought  "differ  from  the 
world"?  (p.  206.)  Does  the  form  of  govern- 
ment for  the  kingdom  of  God  now  exist  on 
the  earth?  What  is  the  relation  of  the  king- 
dom of  God  to  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter-day  Saints?  What  is  the  role  of 
"the  people"  in  the  kingdom  of  God?  (Note: 
The  questions  of  Church-state  relationships, 
of  the  relation  of  the  "kingdom  of  God"  to 
American  government  and  to  the  political 
systems  of  the  modern  world,  will  be  treated 
in  subsequent  lessons.  An  important  state- 
ment on  this  subject  by  President  Wilford 
Woodruff  in  1889,  countersigned  by  the 
First  Presidency  and  Twelve,  is  quoted 
briefly  in  the  Era  article,  December  1944, 
referred  to  above,  and  in  subsequent  declara- 
tions by  the  Church-in-conference  assem- 
bled.) 

LESSON  54 

Effects  of  Establishing  the 
Kingdom  of  God 

Text:  pp.  216-220.  Some  Effects  of  Es- 
tablishing the  Kingdom  (major  topic).  The 
Kingdom  of  God  and  the  Nation-State  Sys- 
tem. The  American  Constitution  and  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  Problems  of  Church  and 
State.    The  Future. 

One  effect  of  the  establishment  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  always  noted,  is 
persecution.    With   persecution   comes   the 


task  of  reconciling  God's  kingdom  as  a 
society  of  human  believers  on  earth,  with 
the  social  institutions  of  the  age  in  which 
the  kingdom  is  restored.  These  effects  re- 
ceive larger  treatment  later.  This  chapter 
is  concerned  with  presenting  President  Tay- 
lor's broad  outlines  of  the  meaning  of  the 
kingdom. 

Discuss:  What  is  the  relation  of  "Zion" 
to  the  kingdom  of  God?  What  is  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  great  council  at  Adam-ondi- 
Ahman?  "How  can  we  live  under  the 
dominion  and  laws  of  the  United  States  and 
be  subjects  of  the  kingdom  of  God?"  (p. 
218.)  How  does  President  Taylor  answer 
this  question?  What  is  the  true  meaning  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  in  view 
of  this  doctrine?  (Instructors  and  class 
leaders  are  advised  again  to  read  carefully 
the  footnotes  on  page  218  and  remember 
that  this  chapter  merely  attempts _to  "out- 
line" the  major  framework  of  the  "meaning 
of  the  kingdom  of  God."  Book  Five  contains 
the  larger  discussion  of  the  details.) 

LESSON  55 

The  Role  and  Purpose  of  the  Church 

Text:  pp.  221-224.  Topics:  To  Build 
the  Zion  of  the  Latter  Days.  The  Lord's 
Work  Temporal.  To  Establish  the  King- 
dom of  God.  Another  Mission  of  the  Church: 
To  Perpetuate  the  Liberty  and  Rights  of 
Man.  The  Work  of  God.  Respect  for  Of- 
ficers.   Calling  of  the  Ministry. 

Discuss:  "A  great  amount  of  the  work 
the  Lord  is  going  to  accomplish  is  generally 
called  temporal.  .  .  .  That  is,  the  government, 
laws,  and  general  direction  of  affairs  among 
the  nations  that  are  not  now  fallen  under 
the  control  of  the  Almighty,  will  have  to  be 
so  changed  and  altered  as  to  come  under 
his  entire  control,  government,  and  dicta- 
tion in  every  respect."  (p.  221.)  What  does 
this  mean?  When  does  a  nation  come  under 
the  control  of  the  Almighty?  How?  If  the 
mission  of  the  Church  is  "to  perpetuate  the 
liberty  and  rights  of  man"  as  well  as  to 
"establish  the  kingdom  of  God,"  why  has 
the  Mormon  doctrine  been  unpopular  in  the 
past?  Have  we  succeeded  in  convincing  the 
world  that  we  are  working  to  perpetuate 
the  liberty  and  rights  of  man?  What  have 
we  done,  what  are  we  now  doing,  to  fulfill 
this  mission?  In  view  of  the  foregoing  les- 
sons, what  reasons  can  be  advanced  for 
respecting  Church  officers?  (See  p.  223.) 
And,  from  the  standpoint  given,  what  of  the 
"calling  of  the  ministry"  in  the  Church  and 
kingdom  of  God? 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


NO  FOURTH  QUARTER 
REPORTS 

HP  he  printing  labor  and  materials 
■  shortage  continues  acute.  In 
order  to  relieve  this  situation 
somewhat  and  give  quorum  of- 
ficers added  time  to  complete  their 
surveys  and  Confidential  Annual 
Reports  there  will  be  no  quarterly 
group  and  quorum  reports  re- 
quired for  the  fourth  quarter  of 
1944.  This  action  will  also  hasten 
somewhat  the  completion  of  the 
printing  of  the  new  1945  quorum 
rolls,  reports,  minutes  books,  etc., 
which  have  been  in  course  of 
printing  since  mid-November. 


NO-LIQUOR-TOBACCO 
COLUMN 

Conducted  by 
Dr.  Joseph  F.  Mervill 


Questions  and  Answers  Regarding 
the  New  Melchizedek  Roll  and 
Report  Books 

Question  1 :  Is  it  the  intent  to  have  the 
new  Melchizedek  Priesthood  roll  and  report 
forms  used  in  the  missions  of  the  Church? 

Answer  1 :  The  new  roll  and  report  books 
are  not  intended  for  use  in  the  missions, 
but  only  for  Melchizedek  Priesthood  quo- 
rums in  the  stakes.  It  is  not  recommended 
that  Melchizedek  Priesthood  quorums  be 
organized  in  the  missions. 

Question  2:  Should  quorums  continue  to 
use  the  individual  record  card  system  or  has 
it  been  discontinued? 

Answer  2:  The  instructions  which  will 
accompany  the  Confidential  Annual  Report 
now  being  mailed  will  state,  "No  record, 
except  for  the  confidential  use  of  the  quorum 
presidency,  outside  of  this  report,  should  be 
in  evidence  which  will  identify  any  mem- 
ber with  the  answers  made."  The  use 
of  the  individual  record  cards  is  optional 
with  quorum  presidencies. 

Question  3:  The  new  quarterly  group 
and  quorum  reports  call  for  the  number  of 
members  present  (in  person)  at  weekly 
meetings,  and  also  the  number  excused 
from  weekly  meetings  because  of  other 
Church  work  during  the  priesthood  meet- 
ing hour,  including  members  away  on  mis- 
sions. How  should  members  of  the  bishopric 
and  other  Melchizedek  Priesthood  members, 
who  are  acting  as  Aaronic  Priesthood  ad- 
visors or  teachers,  be  credited  in  case  they 
attend  the  opening  exercises  of  the  priest- 
hood meeting,  but  do  not  attend  the  weekly 
Melchizedek  group  or  quorum  meetings? 

Answer  3:  Bishoprics  and  others  working 
with  the  Aaronic  Priesthood  during  the 
Melchizedek  Priesthood  meeting  hour  will 
be  given  credit  for  attendance  in  the  Aaronic 
Priesthood  roll  books.  The  record  of  at- 
tendance of  Melchizedek  Priesthood  mem- 
bers is  recorded  in  the  group  and  quorum 
meetings,  and  not  in  any  general  assembly 
of  the  ward  priesthood.  Only  those  should 
be  given  credit  for  attendance  who  attend 
the  weekly  group  and  quorum  meetings. 
Questions  2,  4  and  5  on  the  quarterly  group 
and  quorum  reports  are  totaled  to  obtain 
item  6  "Number  of  members  active  and  ac- 
counted for."  It  is  not  the  primary  objective 
to  show  all  members  attending  the  weekly 
meetings.  It  is  the  primary  objective  to 
show  all  members  active  and  accounted  for. 

Question  4:  Question  No.  9  on  the  quar- 
terly group  and  quorum  reports  asks  for  the 
number  of  members  away  from  home  cor- 
responded with  by  group  officers  during  the 
quarter.  Must  a  group  or  quorum  officer 
write  these  letters  personally,  or  can  credit 
be  taken  for  letters  written  by  others  upon 

JANUARY,  1945 


Shall  We  Have  Military  Conscription? 

HThe  radio  and  newspapers  have  an- 
nounced  that  the  president  has  rec- 
ommended, at  least  suggested,  that  we 
have  military  conscription  after  the  cur- 
rent war  for  all  our  boys  and  call  them 
for  one  year  into  military  training.  Do 
you  who  have  heard  or  read  of  this 
approve  the  recommendation?  There  is 
so  much  involved  in  this  proposition 
that  this  column  believes  you  should 
give  the  question  careful  study  and 
make  a  decision  concerning  it. 

Would  this  year  of  training  contrib- 
ute to  the  social,  moral,  and  spiritual 
good  of  the  boy?  If  it  should  fail  in 
any  one  of  these  respects,  should  we 
not  oppose  it?  Let  us  make  a  few  ob- 
servations. 

The  sentiment  of  the  country  is  now 
overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  some  kind 
of  understanding  and  set-up  that  shall 
eliminate  the  likelihood  of  another 
world  war  during  the  lifetime  of  people 
now  living.  Then  why  go  to  the  enor- 
mous expense  of  preparing  for  some- 
thing that  will  not  happen?  But  if  in 
the  distant  future,  it  does  happen,  the 
methods  and  equipment  then  used 
would  render  obsolete  those  now  em- 
ployed. Hence  the  folly  and  the  waste 
of  continuing  training  in  this  generation. 

But  more  important  things  than  waste 
of  money  are  involved  for  the  boy — his 
moral  and  spiritual  good.  That's  why 
we  speak  of  the  matter  in  this  column. 
The  practices  of  the  army  encourage 
rather  than  discourage  smoking  and 
drinking,  especially  of  beer.  What 
Latter-day  Saint  wants  his  boy  to  live 
in  an  environment  devoid  of  influences 
of  total  abstinence — devoid  of  influ- 
ences that  ban  profanity  and  foul  lan- 
guage— devoid  of  influences  that  do  not 
uphold  chastity  and  moral  rectitude  in 
sex  matters?  The  military  teach  how  to 
avoid  social  diseases,  but  not  self- 
control  and  personal  purity.  Indulge  if 
you  will,  but  submit  to  treatment  im- 
mediately afterwards  is  the  military  at- 
titude. 

Again,  we  teach  the  highly  spiritual 
second  great  commandment — love  our 
neighbors  (the  human  family)  as  we 
love  ourselves.  We  believe,  therefore, 
in  the  brotherhood  of  man — in  living 
the  golden  rule  in  all  our  associations 
with  our  fellows.  We  hate  war  and  all 
its  evils.  War  is  destructive  of  all  our 
spiritual  aspirations  and  ideals.  Hence, 
why  prepare  our  boys  for  war  when  no 
war  is  in  sight?  We  will  cross  the 
bridge  if  and  when  we  get  to  it.  In  the 
meantime,  let  us  do  everything  we  can 


to  train  our  boys  to  be  clean,  capable, 
lovable,  and  righteous.  This  can  best 
be  done  by  keeping  them  away  from 
army  environment  when  war  no  longer 
makes  it  necessary  for  the  boys  to  be 
there. 

Are  We  Alive  and  Energetic? 

Cix  years  have  passed  since  we  began 
^r  a  special  campaign  by  direction  of 
the  First  Presidency  to  teach  our  people 
total  abstinence  from  the  use  of  liquor 
and  tobacco  and  to  win  users  of  these 
narcotics  to  total  abstinence.  Of  course 
the  Church  had  been  teaching  the  Word 
of  Wisdom  to  its  members  and  the 
world  for  more  than  a  hundred  years 
and  is  still  doing  it.  All  Church  mem- 
bers know,  therefore,  that  indulgence  in 
the  use  of  alcoholic  beverages,  tobacco, 
as  well  as  other  narcotics,  is  contrary  to 
the  doctrines  of  the  Church.  But  so 
prone  are  we  to  engage  in  worldly  prac- 
tices that  the  First  Presidency  felt  spe- 
cial efforts  should  be  made  among  our 
people  against  the  use  of  liquor  and  to- 
bacco. 

In  the  revelation  to  the  Prophet  Jo- 
seph Smith,  known  as  the  Word  of 
Wisdom,  the  Lord  said  liquor  and  to- 
bacco are  not  good  for  man.  He  did 
not  tell  us  why.  No  general  gives  his 
men  the  reasons  for  his  orders.  It  is 
enough  for  them  to  know  the  orders. 
They  are  expected  to  obey,  or  suffer 
the  consequences  of  disobedience.  But 
since  the  Word  of  Wisdom  was  given 
in  February  1833,  man  has  found  out 
why  liquor  and  tobacco  are  not  good  for 
man.  Hence  revelation  and  science 
agree  on  this  matter. 

So  the  Latter-day  Saints  have  the  joy 
of  knowledge,  divine  and  human,  that 
makes  it  impossible  for  any  of  them, 
howsoever  weak  in  the  faith  any  mem- 
ber may  be,  to  deny  the  bad  effects  of 
either  liquor  or  tobacco.  Among  these 
effects  is  a  deterioration  of  faith.  So 
we  say  the  cigar et  is  a  faith  killer,  an 
effect  that  all  workers  should  be  willing 
to  do  anything  in  their  power  to  pre- 
vent. 

Hence  the  call  is  made  to  all  priest- 
hood officers,  Melchizedek  and  Aaronic, 
to  push  forward  the  work  of  winning 
addict  members  to  total  abstinence.  The 
method,  does  someone  ask?  The  an- 
swer is  easy — the  method  used  by  all 
missionaries  of  the  Church,  that  of  per- 
sonal contact.  But  this  method  to  be 
successful  must  be  characterized  byk 
wisdom,  tact,  swmpathy,  persistence, 
and  faith.  The  Lord  helping  (and  the 
Lord  will  help  all  worthy  of  his  help) 
the  job  can  be  done  in  the  great  major- 
ity of  cases  of  quorum  members.  But 
usually  it  will  be  a  delicate  if  not  a  hard 
job.  Let  no  worker  be  discouraged. 
Let  no  officer  fail  in  his  duty  to  those 
who  have  been  so  unfortunate  as  to 
have  acquired  the  smoking  or  drinking 
habit,  regular  or  intermittent. 


direct  assignment  from  the  group  or  quorum 
officer? 

Answer  4:  Quorums  or  groups  may  be 
given  credit  for  letters  written  by  members 
of  the  quorum  to  quorum  members  away 
from  home  if  done  under  the  direction  of 


group  or  quorum  officers.  Credit  should  not 
be  taken  for  letters  written  to  quorum  mem- 
bers by  persons  outside  the  group  or  quorum. 
Question  5:  Our  stake  is  very  scattered 
with  branches  and  wards  extending  as  far 
{Concluded  on  page  32) 

31 


Hjtneaiogy 


Letter  to  Stake  Chairmen 

P\ear  Stake  Chairman: 
Ly  On  November  21,  1944,  the  Gen- 
ealogical Society  of  Utah  was  rein- 
corporated for  one  hundred  years  under 
the  name  of  the  Genealogical  Society 
of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter- 
day  Saints.  The  First  Presidency  re- 
appointed Elder  Joseph  Fielding  Smith 
as  president,  and  the  same  board  of 
directors  was  continued  in  office. 

One  amendment  made  at  the  time  of 
change  is  of  general  interest.  No  more 
life  or  annual  memberships  are  to  be 
granted  in  the  Society.  Instead,  all  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  of  good  moral  stand- 
ing and  others  of  good  moral  character 
may  use,  subject  to  the  rules  of  the  So- 
ciety, any  book  or  other  record  belong- 
ing to  the  library. 

The  board  of  directors  now  recom- 
mends that  the  membership  of  your 
stake  committee  be  increased  to  include 
a  secretary  and  also  a  stake  supervisor 
of  baptisms  ( a  position  which  can  usu- 
ally be  filled  most  acceptably  by  a 
woman ) . 

Superseding  previous  instructions, 
home  teaching  is  now  definitely  as- 
signed to  stake  and  ward  committees 
as  one  of  their  major  responsibilities, 
along  with  the  organizing  and  fostering 
of  temple  work,  research  and  record 
keeping  and  the  formation  of  family  or- 
ganizations. Please  take  steps  to  see 
that  this  helpful  activity  is  initiated  in 
every  ward  of  your  stake,  with  one 
member  of  each  committee  definitely  as- 
signed jurisdiction  over  this  work.  All 
members  of  the  ward  committee  should 
participate  in  these  home  teaching  vis- 
its and  give  direct  assistance  to  ward 
members  in  preparing  their  family 
group  sheets  and  pedigree  charts,  and 
in  providing  them  with  guidance  in  the 
elementary  phases  of  research. 

Realizing  the  urgent  need  for  closer 
contact  between  general,  stake  and 
ward  workers,  we  are  planning  to  hold 
a  limited  number  of  meetings  with 
groups  from  stakes  that  are  within  con- 
venient travel  distance  from  a  chosen 
center.  .  .  . 

We  are  also  preparing,  for  the  guid- 
ance of  all,  circulars  of  instructions  on 
the  organization  and  duties  of  temple 
and  genealogical  committees,  our  rela- 
tionship to  the  Sunday  School  Genea- 
logical Training  Class,  and  detailed 
suggestions  on  the  preparation  and 
sending  in  of  family  group  sheets  for 
temple  work  and  problems  involved. 

Recently  our  library  was  given  the 
opportunity  to  make  copies  of  unprinted 
transcripts  of  marriages  from  about 
350  English  parishes.  We  have  also 
been  able  to  purchase  and  add  to  our 
library  during  the  past  year  or  two  a 
considerable  number  of  valuable  family 
genealogies    and   place    records.     Our 

32 


library  is  rapidly  becoming  recognized 
as  one  of  the  principal  sources  for  gen- 
ealogical research  in  America. 

Our  research  department  has  been 
augmented  and  new  researchers  have 
been  given  a  regular  period  of  training. 
They  are  now  equipped  to  give  prompt 
and  efficient  service  on  research  orders 
placed  with  the  Society.  It  is  our  rec- 
ommendation that  all  research  in  the  un- 
occupied European  countries  be  sent 
through  our  Society. 

Sincerely  your  brethren, 

Joseph  Fielding  Smith, 

President 
Archibald  F.  Bennett, 

Secretary 
■  ♦  ■ 

Melchizedek  Priesthood 

( Concluded  from  page  3 1 ) 
as  one  hundred  thirty-five  miles  from  stake 
headquarters.  Many  of  these  distant  wards 
find  it  difficult  to  attend  monthly  priesthood 
quorum  and  priesthood  leadership  meetings. 
Will  our  new  quarterly  reports  reflect  such 
conditions? 

Answer  5:  A  number  of  the  stakes  in  the 
Church  are  scattered  over  a  wide  area.  The 
reports  are  intended  to  reflect  the  actual  con- 
ditions as  to  the  attendance  at  the  various 
meetings  of  the  priesthood.  In  interpreting 
the  reports  consideration  will  be  given  to 
unusual  conditions  which  may  affect  the 
showing  in  each  of  the  respective  stakes.  It 
is  not  practical  in  the  quarterly  reports  to 
attempt  a  reflection  of  the  peculiar  condi- 
tions in  each  stake. 

Question  6:  In  stakes  with  quorums  and 
groups  widely  scattered,  the  problem  of  a 
personal  interview  with  each  quorum  mem- 
ber becomes  somewhat  burdensome.  Do  you 
have  any  suggestions  to  offer  in  this  regard? 

Answer  6:  Beginning  in  1945  quorum 
presidencies  will  have  a  much  longer  period 
to  complete  their  annual  survey.  This  year 
the  time  has  been  limited  because  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  new  program  was  not 
made  until  October  conference.  Many  of  the 
quorums,  however,  have  their  work  prac- 
tically completed.  Quorum  officers  in  their 
visits  to  the  wards  and  branches  might 
well  arrange  to  interview,  individually,  those 
in  attendance  at  the  quorum  or  group  meet- 
ings. Quorum  presidencies,  particularly  of 
the  high  priests  quorums,  may  use,  for  this 
year  only,  tactful  and  wise  group  leaders  to 
assist  with  the  personal  interviews. 

Question  7:  What  should  be  done  in  case 
some  quorum  does  not  complete  the  inter- 
view of  their  members  100%  by  the  first  of 
1945  when  the  annual  confidential  report  is 
to  be  made?  Must  the  quorum  suffer  in  the 
percentage  shown  when  one  of  the  officers 
fails  to  complete  the  interviews? 

Answer  7:  Any  quorum  suffers  when 
quorum  officers  fail  to  discharge  their  re- 
sponsibilities. The  report  should  reflect  ac- 
curately the  number  of  quorum  members 
actually  interviewed  personally  to  obtain  the 
information  called  for  in  the  report. 

Question  8:  Will  distribution  of  quorum 
roll  and  report  books  be  made  directly  to 
quorums  and  groups  or  through  the  stake 
Melchizedek  Priesthood  committee? 

Answer  8:    The  December  Improvement 


LEARNING  TO  THINK 

By  Mabel-Ruth  Jackson 

"VT^aiting  at  a  railway  station,  I  be- 
*v  came  interested  in  watching  a 
small  girl  and  her  father.  The  child 
asked  many  questions — about  the  steel 
tracks,  the  clouds,  the  distant  mountains 
— passing  -from  one  question  to  another 
so  rapidly  that  I  doubted  if  she  were 
listening  to  the  answers.  Her  father  did 
not  put  her  off  but  answered  each  ques- 
tion carefully. 

"Oh,  I'm  tired  standing!"  she  cried 
and  darted  off  to  sit  down  abruptly  on 
the  step  of  a  closed  side  door  of  a  build- 
ing used  for  freight.  But  she  jumped  up 
in  a  hurry. 

"That  hurt!"  she  exclaimed  resent- 
fully and  turned  to  look  at  the  step.  An 
oblong  strip  of  iron  studded  with  small 
blunt  spikes  had  been  screwed  on  the 
top,  covering  it  completely. 

"Why  did  they  put  that  there,  Dad- 
dy?" she  demanded  of  her  father,  who 
hid  an  amused  smile. 

"Why  do  you  think  they  did?"  he 
counterquestioned. 

She  turned  and  looked  again.  "Well, 
I  can't  think  why,"  she  said.  "You  tell 
me,  Daddy." 

"That's  one  question  you  can  answer 
yourself  if  you  try  hard  enough,  Anne," 
he  said.  "From  now  on,  I'm  not  going 
to  answer  any  questions  you  can  find 
the  answers  to  yourself." 

I  could  see  that  she  didn't  know 
whether  she  liked  that  or  not.  It  wasn't 
so  easy  to  put  her  own  brain  to  work  as 
it  was  to  let  "Daddy"  do  it. 

"Please  tell  me,  Daddy,"  she  teased. 

"I'll  help  you  a  little,"  he  offered. 
"Now  when  you  sat  down  there,  you 
stood  up  again  quickly — " 

"Oh,"  she  broke  in,  her  eyes  shining, 
"they  didn't  want  me  to  sit  there!" 

"That's  it  exactly,"'  her  father  an- 
swered, smiling. 

"But  why  don't  they  want  people  to 
sit  there?"  came  the  inevitable  question. 

"Why  does  Mother  sometimes  shoo 
you  out  of  the  kitchen  when  she's  get- 
ting a  big  meal?" 

"Because  I  get  in  her  way,"  Anne 
said.  "Oh,  I — ' 

Just  then  the  train  came  in  and  I  didn't 
hear  any  more,  but  the  incident  set  me 
to  thinking. 

We  see  that  our  children  have  exer- 
cise to  make  their  muscles  grow  strong, 
but  how  much  attention  do  we  pay  to 
the  process  of  strengthening  their  mental 
growth?  We  read  them  instructive 
stories  and  try  to  answer  their  questions 
intelligently,  but  do  we  not  sometimes 
forget  that,  primarily,  education  should 
be  a  whetstone  to  sharpen  mental  ac- 
tivities, to  teach  children  to  think  for 
themselves? 


Era,  page  776,  states,  "All  supplies  will  be 
mailed  to  the  chairmen  of  the  stake  Mel- 
chizedek Priesthood  committees."  In  order 
to  obviate  changes  in  stake  chairmen  through 
stake  reorganizations  and  for  other  reasons, 
supplies  will  be  mailed  to  the  chairmen  of 
the  stake  Melchizedek  Priesthood  commit- 
tees through  the  respective  stake  presidents. 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


Xaroviic  H?riest(too6 

CONDUCTED  UNDER  THE  SUPERVISION  OF  THE  PRESIDING  BISHOPRIC.    EDITED  BY  LEE  A.  PALMER. 


WARD  BOY  LEADERSHIP 

COMMITTEE  OUTLINE  OF  STUDY 

FEBRUARY  1945 

Text:  HOW  TO  WIN  BOYS 
Chapter  XXVI :  The  Great  Objective 

Quotations  [torn  the  Text: 

1.  So  to  you  who  are  timid  about  person' 
at  work  with  boys,  here  is  sound  ad- 
vice. It  is  the  wisdom  of  the  ages  and 
merely  is  coming  to  you  through  a  very 
human  agency.  Ask  a  boy  what  he 
thinks  Jesus  would  want  him  to  do.  If 
he,  in  turn,  is  also  timid,  merely  direct 
his  thinking. 

2.  So  here  is  that  fine  young  person,  an 
immature  boy.  Natively  he  is  religious. 
But  he  fears  to  seem  pious.  He  fears 
any  suggestion  of  the  "goody-goody." 
He  is  no  faker.  His  young  heart  over- 
flows. His  breath  comes  in  short  gasps 
at  every  invitation  given  in  the  church 
service.  He  knows  what  he  wants  to 
do  and  doesn't  quite  know  how  to  start 
doing  it. 

Will  he  grow  into  manhood  and  be- 
come hardened  by  worldly  forces  and 
feel  the  urge  of  new  and  vicious  de- 
sires— without  Christl 

Manhood  will  find  him  formed.  Man- 
hood will  see  in  his  mental  set-up  much 
of  the  innocent  faith  gone.  Friends 
will  have  proved  untrue — some  of 
them.  He'll  feel  the  selfish  grasp  of 
money-getting.  He'll  be  the  victim  of 
a  thousand  and  one  forms  of  propa- 
ganda, both  the  good  and  the  bad. 
Other  lives  will  have  touched  his  and 
left  upon  his  soul  their  beauty  or  their 
stains. 

3.  Save  another  boy  for  Christ  and  his 
work!  For  after  youth  passes,  every 
major  decision  in  his  life  will  be  made 
with  great  difficulty. 

-4.  "/  can  do  all  things  through  Christ 
which  strengtheneth  me." 

There  is  the  answer.  There  is  the 
heart's  solution  to  any  problem  in  any 
approach  to  boyhood! 

5.  You  and  I,  as  teachers,  or  would-be 
leaders,  are  rather  powerless.  But  by 
the  divine  plan  of  the  Creator,  our 
small  talent  linked  through  prayer  to 
the  powerhouse  of  an  Almighty  can 
actually  perform  human  miracles! 

Helps  for  the  Class  Leader: 

This  chapter,  "The  Great  Objective,"  has 
been  treated  in  two  lessons.  There  is  much 
food  for  thought  in  this  summary  of  the 
book  we  have  been  studying  for  over  two 
years. 

In  addition  to  the  quotations  above,  re- 
view this  final  chapter  and  give  to  your 
class  a  full  picture  of  their  responsibilities 
in  the  work  of  teaching  boys.  Why  do  we 
spend  so  much  time  with  our  young  men? 
W^hy  are  we  so  much  concerned  about  them? 
Why  should  we  increase  the  measure  of 
talent    and  time  devoted  to  their  interests? 

Raise  the  spiritual  sights  of  your  class 
members.  You  have  a  glorious  opportunity 
to  make  this  an  outstanding  lesson. 

JANUARY,  1945 


yjoudtpL  Spsmk&u 


SHIRLEY 
MILES 


PRIESTHOOD'S    BLESSINGS   TO 
WOMANHOOD 

(Address  delivered  during  the 
Carbon  Stake  quarterly  confer- 
ence. ) 

VI  Then  the  sun  shines  upon  the  earth, 

"  it  casts  its  warming  rays  equally 
upon  both  men  and  women,  brightening 
their  days  and  giving  them  light  and 
■warmth  and  sustenance. 

Thus  it  is  with  the  priesthood.  Like 
the  sun,  its  blesskigs  reach  out  to  all 
members  of  the  Church,  men  and  wom- 
en alike.  And  like  the  sun,  it  brightens 
our  days  and  gives  us  light  and  warmth 
and  sustenance  of  a  spiritual  sort. 

For  as  we  walk  through  life,  we  find 
that  we  must  have  some  standard,  some 
guiding  set  of  principles  by  which  to 
govern  the  order  of  our  lives.  It  is  as  if 
we  started  out  in  the  early  morning  be- 
fore the  sunrise,  when  the  earth  is 
darkest,  searching  for  a  path.  With  the 
rising  of  the  sun,  we  are  able  to  see  the 
correct  road  upon  which  to  set  our  feet. 

So  it  is  with  those  who  are  privileged 
to  bear  the  priesthood,  or  with  those 
who  share  in  its  blessings.  We  look  to 
it  for  our  guide  in  life;  and  there  we 
find  the  standards  for  which  we  are 
searching,  the  light  which  shows  us  the 
way  to  go. 

To  young  people  who  have  had  the 
opportunity  to  live  in  the  light  of  the 
gospel  and  of  the  priesthood,  life  has  a 
different  meaning.  An  L.D.S.  boy  who 
holds  the  priesthood,  or  an  L.D.S.  girl 
who  associates  with  members  of  the 
priesthood,  and  who  knows  what  it  is 
to  have  a  clean  spirit  and  to  understand 
the  teachings  of  the  Lord,  is  set  apart 
from  youth  who  are  denied  these  great 
blessings. 

God  has  said,  "Be  ye  clean  that  bear 


STANDARD  QUORUM  AWARD 
FOR  1944 

Application  blanks  for  the 
Standard  Quorum  Award 
and  for  the  Individual  Certificate 
of  Award  will  be  sent  to  bishops 
and  stake  chairmen  only  on  re~ 
quest. 

A  new  application  form  is  be- 
ing used  for  1945.  Any  old  forms 
on  hand  should  be  destroyed. 

Stake  and  ward  committees  are 
urged  to  make  every  possible  ef- 
fort to  see  that  no  deserving  quo- 
rum, group,  or  boy,  is  overlooked 
in  these  award  programs. 


Note: 

The  succeeding  lessons  will  be  based  upon 
a  review  of  the  chapters  of  this  book.  The 
lessons  for  future  meetings  of  the  ward  boy 
leadership  committee  will  be  published  each 
month  as  in  the  past. 


the  vessels  of  the  Lord."  To  L.D.S. 
young  people  this  is  as  the  sun  which 
lights  our  days.  It  is  a  thought  that 
should  greet  us  each  morning  with  the 
rising  of  the  sun,  and  stay  with  us 
throughout  each  day.  A  young  person 
who  guides  his  life  in  being  clean 
enough  in  heart,  soul,  and  mind,  to  be 
a  servant  of  God  has  truly  found  the 
right  path. 

A  Mormon  boy  knows  that  in  order 
to  hold  the  priesthood,  he  is  expected 
to  abide  by  the  laws  of  the  gospel  and 
the  Word  of  Wisdom.  He  accepts  this 
as  his  responsibility  to  God  and  to  him- 
self. With  an  L.D.S.  girl,  it  is  purely  a 
matter  of  looking  into  her  own  heart, 
and  finding  there  the  reasons  for  which 
she  keeps  these  same  standards. 

An  L.D.S.  girl  has  the  opportunity 
each  day  to  mingle  socially,  spiritually, 
and  intellectually,  with  the  kind  of 
young  men  who  will  be  worthy  hus- 
bands and  fathers.  These  young  mem- 
bers of  the  priesthood  are  of  the  highest 
order  of  young  men  in  the  nation  and 
in  the  world.  When  an  L.D.S.  girl  as- 
sociates with  them,  she  is  standing  full 
in  the  light  of  the  sun.  It  is  then  that 
she  may  see  and  understand  why  she 
must  be  as  clean  and  pure  in  heart  as  if 
she  were  a  member  of  the  priesthood 
herself. 

The  blessings  of  the  priesthood  to 
young  womanhood  then,  are  many: 
There  is  the  blessing  of  associating  with 
the  highest  type  of  manhood  and  of 
being  guided  by  their  principles.  There 
is  the  blessing  of  knowing  that  she  may 
always  find  understanding  and  helpful- 
ness in  these  young  men,  and  of  know- 
ing that  she  need  look  no  further  than 
her  daily  associations  with  them  for 
happiness  and  fulfilment.  There  is  the 
great  blessing  of  being  able  to  share  the 
joys  and  the  spiritual  uplift  of  walking 
beside  these  servants  of  God  through 
time  and  throughout  all  eternity  in  the 
sunlight  of  purity  and  righteousness. 

33 


^"^)orr5  ^Racking 

CONDUCTED  UNDER  THE  SUPERVISION  OF  THE  PRESIDING  BISHOPRIC.    EDITED  BY  LEE  A.  PALMER. 


"The  teacher  s  duty  is  to  watch  over  the  church  always,  and  be  with  and 
strengthen  them; 

"And  see  that  there  is  no  iniquity  in  the  church,  neither  hardness  with  each 
other,  neither  lying,  backbiting,  nor  evil  speaking; 

"And  see  that  the  church  meet  together  often,  and  also  see  that  all  the  mem- 
bers do  their  duty."    (D.  &  C.  20:53-55.) 

"BE  WITH  AND  STRENGTHEN  THEM" 


HpHE  Lord  was  speaking  when  the  in- 
A  junction — "be  with  and  strengthen 
them" — was  included  in  the  duties  of 
the  teacher.  To  whom  was  he  referring? 
Whom  is  the  teacher  to  "be  with"? 
Whom  is  the  teacher  to  "strengthen"? 

"Them"  refers  to  "the  Church"  as 
stipulated  in  a  preceding  injunction  re- 
corded in  the  same  verse  of  this  revela- 
tion. (Doc.  &  Cov.  20:53.)  "The 
Church"  to  a  ward  teacher,  therefore, 
is  "them"  or  the  family  or  families  for 
whom  he  is  responsible  to  the  bishop. 
Knowing  whom  the  teacher  is  to  "be 
with"  and  whom  he  is  to  "strengthen" 
is  one  thing,  but  knowing  when  he  is  to 
perform  these  duties  is  the  purpose  of 
these  suggestions. 

Having  a  perfect  knowledge  of  hu- 
man nature  our  Lord  knows  that  we 
are  all  subject  to  weaknesses.  He  rec- 
ognizes that  sometimes  we  are  strong 
and  confident  and  that  at  other  times  we 
are  weak  and  need  support.  Those 
moments  when  we  are  weak  and  have 
need  of  strength  are  his  greatest  con- 
cern for  us. 

He  knows  the  deterrent  influence  of 
temptation,  and  of  discouragement.  He 
knows  how  the  loneliness  of  bereave- 
ment frequently  leaves  the  mind  dis- 
armed against  Lucifer's  subtle  sugges- 
tion of  injustice.  He  knows  how  the 
pinch  of  poverty,  the  children's  cry  for 
bread  or  their  plea  for  clothing,  may 
distort  men's  notions  of  where  right 
ends  and  wrong  begins.  He  knows  how 
a  thoughtless  act  or  the  deadly  tongue 
of  gossip  may  destroy  righteous  ambi- 
tion in  the  hearts  of  men.  Yes,  he  knows 
all  the  tricks  in  Satan's  catalog.  He 
knows  full  well  how  great  is  Lucifer's 
power  to  sell  his  devilish  ideas  to  un- 
suspecting souls  in  moments  of  weak- 
ness. 

Does  any  ward  teacher  suppose  that 
these  temptations  and  conditions  hold 
back  their  weighted  influence  during  the 
month  and  then  burst  upon  a  family  just 
when  he  decides  it  is  time  to  make  his 
monthly  visit?  Does  any  ward  teacher 
suppose  that,  if  such  things  did  happen, 
he  could,  by  some  magic  sweep,  cure 
the  month's  accumulation  of  ills  in  the 
few  moments  he  spends  with  the  family 
every  thirty  days? 

Perhaps  some  may  think  that  such 
questions  are  quite  unnecessary.  Well, 
34 


it  is  hoped  they  are,  but  it  is  believed 
they  may  stimulate  some  good  thinking 
on  the  part  of  teachers  who  may  enter- 
tain the  notion  that  a  visit  once  a 
month  is  ward  teaching. 

It  requires  only  a  little  thought  to 
know  that  the  Lord  expects  ward  teach- 
ers to  "be  with  and  strengthen  them" 
whenever  they  need  strength.  It  re- 
quires even  less  thought  to  know  that 
weaknesses,  sorrow,  and  unfortunate 
circumstances  may  overtake  men  at  any 
time.  Really  to  '  strengthen  them,"  we 
must  be  "with  them"  when  they  need 
us.  Belated  assistance,  when  the  need 
has  passed,  excuses  not  the  slothful. 

What  greater  assignment,  what 
greater  call,  can  come  to  man  than  to 
"be  with  and  strengthen"  the  discour- 
aged, the  bereaved,  the  sick,  the 
maimed,  the  lonely,  the  inactive.  What 
greater  satisfaction  than  to  give  such 
strength  and  sustenance  when  it  is 
needed? 

In  your  visits  have  you  so  endeared 
yourself  to  the  Saints  that  when  they 
need  comfort,  assistance,  or  encourage- 
ment, they  instinctively  think  of  you 
and  wish  that  somehow  you  could  know 
they  were  needing  you  and  that  they 
would  appreciate  your  call?  If  they  de- 
sire that  you  speak  at  the  funeral  serv- 
ice of  a  member  of  the  family,  does  the 
bishop  have  to  bring  you  the  word,  or 
are  you  there  in  person  to  offer  your 
condolence  and  to  hear  their  request? 
If  there  is  a  "shut-in"  among  your  mem- 
bers, doyou  call  frequently  to  cheer  him 
along?  Thirty  days  between  "messages" 
from  the  ward  teacher  whom  they  love 
is  a  long  time  to  wait.  How  long  since 
you,  with  the  approval  of  your  bishop, 
administered  the  sacrament  to  members 
long  detained  at  home  through  illness? 

Think  of  all  the  times  you  could  have 
helped  "them"  and  then  count  the  num- 
ber of  times  you  really  did  assist.  What 
is  your  score?  Do  you  have  room  for 
improvement?  The  Lord  will  sustain 
and  bless  you  in  any  additional  effort 
you  make  to  increase  the  quality  of 
your  teaching. 

Only  the  ward  teacher  who  is  willing 
to  "watch  over  the  Church  always"  will 
be  in  a  position  to  "be  with  and 
strengthen  them"  when  they  need 
strength. 


WARD  TEACHERS'  MESSAGE 

'T'he  Ward  Teachers'  Message 
for  January  1945  is  "The 
New  Year  and  Repentance,"  and 
was  published  in  The  Improve- 
ment Era  for  December  1944.  The 
message  for  February  will  be 
published  in  the  Era  for  the  same 
month. 

This  change  in  publication  time 
will  bring  the  announcement  of 
the  message  into  the  month  dur- 
ing which  it  is  to  be  discussed  by 
the  ward  teachers. 

The  leaflets  will  be  sent  in  the 
future  as  they  have  been  in  the 
past. 


Mr.  Church  Officer 

( Concluded  from  page  2 1 ) 
in  unison  and  marched  out  as  soldiers. 
In  fact,  the  entire  program  was  so  or- 
derly, and  each  one  fitted  his  place  in 
the  program  so  well  that  the  visitor  was 
astounded.  How  did  that  teacher  do  it? 
The  visitor  was  going  to  find  out.  After 
dismissal  he  accosted  one  of  the  boys 
of  this  unusual  group  of  children  where 
he  had  been  visiting.  Asked  he,  "How 
did  all  you  boys  and  girls  know  when 
to  arise?  How  did  you  all  know  so 
well  when  to  march?"  Then  came  the 
answer,  "Didn't  you  see  the  teacher's 
thumb  signal  us?" 

■  — i  ■ 

A  Mormon  Wife 

(Concluded  from  page  17) 
Many  and  many  a  time  they  walked 
the  three  blocks  from  the  Cannon  home 
to  the  depot  and  came  back,  dragging 
between  them  a  five  gallon  can  of  milk 
which  their  father  had  sent  to  help  out 
with  their  board.  Although  the  "big 
house,"  as  they  called  it,  boasted  a  pump 
in  the  yard,  the  water  was  somewhat 
brackish;  so  in  order  to  get  fresh  water 
for  drinking,  it  was  necessary  to  scram- 
ble down  the  bank  of  City  Creek,  which 
flowed  past  the  home.  In  winter,  the 
sides  of  the  stream  were  not  only  steep, 
but  icy  as  well  and  sometimes  our  young 
ladies  fell  in.  On  such  occasions  Au- 
gusta wrote:  "No  damage  done,  except 
wet  feet." 

In  reminiscent  mood  she  tells  that  "we 
never  had  ready  money  enough  to  pay 
our  board  when  we  were  going  to 
school.  We  rented  a  room  or  went  into 
the  home  of  friends.  Father  furnished 
our  food,  and  we  all  did  the  work. 
When  we  had  graduated  and  were  real 
professors,  and  got  as  much  as  fifty  dol- 
lars a  month  salary,  we  could  afford  to 
pay  for  our  board." 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


n 


Z2 


n 


The  Ward  Music  Guild 

Fourth  Session 
( January ) 

By  Gerrit  de  Jong,  Jr., 

Dean  of  the  College  of  Fine  Arts, 

Brigham   Young  University, 

and  Member  of  the  General 

Music  Committee 

'"Pwo  months  ago  we  discussed  to- 
■*■  gether  certain  hymns  which  offered 
difficulties  for  the  chorister.  This  month 
we  are  discussing  certain  problems 
which  concern  particularly  the  organist 
and  his  work.  The  assumption  in  this 
discussion  on  hymns  is  that  the  work 
done  by  both  chorister  and  organist 
must  of  necessity  rest  on  such  close  co- 
operation that  each  can  profit  from  an 
occasional  discussion  of  specific  prob- 
lems of  the  other. 

Why  Use  the  Organ? 

The  question  is  often  asked,  why  it 
is  generally  recommended  that  we  use 
the  organ  rather  than  the  piano  in  our 
worship  meetings.  The  answer  is  sim- 
ple: the  organ  is  more  appropriate  to 
a  worship  gathering.  The  organ  was 
actually  born  in  the  church;  that  is,  it 
developed  out  of  the  attempts  made  to 
improve  the  vocal  music  used  in  the 
church.  The  objection  to  the  use  of  the 
organ  because  most  of  our  Church  mu- 
sicians are  at  present  better  pianists 
than  organists,  is  removed  by  having 
our  pianists  deliberately  set  out  to  be- 
come good  organists  as  well. 

An  Important  Difference 

Since  the  keyboards  of  the  piano  and 
the  organ  look  somewhat  similar,  many 
people  assume  that  these  two  instru- 
ments are  the  same.  They  are  not  even 
of  the  same  general  kind.  The  piano  is 
a  percussion  instrument;  that  is,  its  tones 
are  produced  by  hammers  which  strike 
strings.  The  organ,  however,  is  a  wind 
instrument,  more  akin  to  the  human 
voice,  and  produces  its  tones  by  blow- 
ing. 


o 


n 


u. 


This  fundamental  difference  in  con- 
struction calls  for  a  corresponding  dif- 
ference in  the  techniques  used  in  play- 
ing these  instruments.  Every  pianist 
who  has  made  an  honest  effort  to  ac- 
quire an  "organ  technique"  knows  that 
on  the  organ  a  tone  is  sustained  no  long- 
er than  we  actually  hold  the  key  respon- 
sible for  it  depressed.  There  is  no  sus- 
taining pedal  to  prolong  tones  after  the 
finger  has  been  lifted  from  the  key.  The 
most  important,  though  not  the  only, 
item  for  the  pianist  who  changes  to  the 
organ,  therefore,  is  the  acquisition  of  a 
good  legato;  that  is,  the  ability  and 
habit  of  holding  each  tone  the  exact 
length  of  time  its  relative  value  calls 
for. 

It  will  be  noted  that  most  of  the 
music  the  organist  is  called  upon  to 
play  is  really  written  for  four-part  sing- 
ing. When  the  four  parts  have  note 
values  of  differing  lengths,  it  becomes 
all  the  more  difficult  to  play  absolutely 
legato.  But  this  proper  sustaining  of 
the  notes  should  be  practiced  until  the 
new  organist  has  developed  the  habit  of 
playing  legato  in  each  part. 

Difficulties 

Let  us  consider  a  few  of  the  hymns 
that  are  often  pointed  out  by  young  or- 
ganists as  being  particularly  difficult. 
It  will  be  observed  that  the  difficulties 
of  these  hymns  are  typical  of  those  of 
most  of  the  other  hymns  frequently 
used. 

In  No.  167,  in  the  Latter-day  Saint 
Hymns,  the  well-known  "Praise  to  the 
Man,"  we  find  many  places  where  the  tenor 
and  bass  parts  are  not  within  the  reach  of 
the  left  hand.  In  such  a  case  we  must  al- 
ways make  sure  of  the  bass  part  first,  for 
the  bass  part  must  never  be  omitted  for  any 
reason.  The  tenor  part  is  then  played  by 
the  right  hand,  together  with  the  alto  and 
soprano.  (See,  for  instance,  measures  5,  13, 
and  29.)  In  measure  3  (and  11  and  27)  it 
is  not  possible  to  reach  C  sharp  of  the  tenor 
and  add  it  to  the  right-hand  part  below  the 
alto.  Under  those  circumstances  it  is  better 
to  transpose  the  tenor  an  octave  higher,  and 

MARLBOROUGH  WARD,  GRANITE  STAKE,  CHOIR 


put  the  C  sharp  of  the  tenor  between  the 
alto  and  the  soprano. 

In  No.  191,  "O  Say,  What  is  Truth," 
much  of  the  tenor  will  have  to  be  played  by 
the  right  hand,  as  in  the  previous  hymn. 
(See  first  full  measure,  tenor  C-B-B;  and 
next  to  the  last  full  measure,  where  the  tenor 
sings  D  on  the  word  "Is.") 

In  No.  30,  "Lord,  Thou  Wilt  Hear  Me," 
we  must  play  the  soprano  and  alto  parts 
perfectly  legato,  to  make  them  into  a 
smoothly  flowing  duet.  The  bass  and  tenor 
parts  should  be  played  non-legato  (but  not 
staccato!)  in  order  to  give  the  piece  move- 
ment and  rhythmic  beauty.  Watch  espe- 
cially the  one  measure  where  the  left  hand 
has  come  to  the  help  of  the  right. 

In  No.  118,  "For  the  Strength  of  the 
Hills,"  most  organists  get  confused  at  the 
beginning  of  the  second  line.  The  scale 
passages  in  the  soprano  and  bass  parts 
probably  frighten  them.  The  fact  that  both 
alto  and  tenor  parts  sing  the  same  middle  C 
further  adds  to  the  confusion.  It  is,  of 
course,  sufficient  to  play  this  middle  C  with 
one  hand  only,  with  whichever  hand  it  is 
most  convenient  to  play  it. 

No.  127,  "The  Spirit  of  God  Like  a  Fire," 

has  only  a  few  places  where  the  tenor  part 

has  to  be  worked  into  the  right  hand.   It  is, 

however,  one  of  the  most  difficult  hymns  to 

(Concluded  on  page  45) 
■  »  « 

Marlborough  Ward  Choir 

''"Pwenty-eight  singers  comprised  the 
*  choir  of  Marlborough  Ward,  Gran- 
ite Stake,  when  the  choir  was  organized 
in  a  new  ward  in  September  1943.  To- 
day there  are  fifty-five  members.  This 
shows  splendid  activity  in  the  period  of 
one  year. 

This  choir  has  produced  three  canta- 
tas, the  last  being  a  Christmas  one, 
"The  Nativity  Song."  Choir  members 
are  called  by  telephone  when  they 
miss  a  reheasal  or  a  sacrament  meet- 
ing. A  spirit  of  friendship  and  kind- 
liness characterizes  all  the  choir  activi- 
ties. A  special  fund  is  provided  by  the 
members  for  occasional  social  events. 

Benjamin  Bullough  is  director;  Fred 
E.  Curtis,  choir  president.  Althea  Fre- 
win  Thomson,  Irene  Jacobson,  and  Em- 
ma Schreiner  Stringham  are  accom- 
panists.— Alexander  Schreiner. 


JANUARY,  1945 


Christmas  Cards  and 
Sugar  Sacks 

By  Gladys  Fuller  Rasmussen 

"\T7hat  are  you  doing  with  your  five- 
and  ten-pound  sugar  sacks?  And 
all  those  hundreds  of  lovely  Christmas 
cards?  You  aren't  putting  them  in  the 
furnace,  are  you?  Well,  don't!  Because 
out  of  the  two  you  can  make  as  clever 
a  scrapbook  as  you  could  wish  to  see. 
And  what  children's  hospital  isn't  cry- 
ing for  more  scrapbooks  for  little  folk? 
It's  an  easy  and  pleasant  job,  too, 
making  them. 

First,  of  course,  the  sacks,  must  be 
ripped  open  and  the  printing  removed. 


Fold  on  dotted  line: 


Bring  a  to  b  (a  little  past)  and  c  to  b  (a  little  past): 


Then  stitch  up  and  down  on  b: 

b 


Fold  as  a  book: 


To  do  this,  dampen  each  sack  slightly, 
then  make  a  paste  of  either  bar  soap  or 
powdered  soap  and  put  it  over  the  let- 
tering, thickly.  Roll  up  and  let  lie  for 
a  day  or  even  two  days.  Put  into  cool 
water,  then  rub  by  hand  or  on  a  tiny 
washboard  until  the  letters  come  out  or 

36 


owing 

mostly  out.  Sometimes  machine  wash- 
ing is  satisfactory,  but  usually  hand 
washing  gives  better  results.  Next,  put 
the  sacks  in  a  pan  of  cool  water  and 
bring  to  a  boil.  Boil  a  few  minutes.  Use 
a  bleach  if  desired.  Rinse  well,  starch 
stiffly  with  cold  starch,  dry  partly,  and 
iron. 

Now  you  are  ready  to  make  your 
books.  Take  your  sacks  and  sew  them 
together  with  flat  fell  seams.  Cut  into 
strips  twenty-four  inches  by  forty- 
eight  inches.  Plan  on  at  least  twelve 
pages,  more  if  you  wish,  to  each  book. 
Fold  lengthwise  through  the  middle, 
then  through  the  center.  Next,  bring 
each  edge  a  little  past  this  center,  so  it 
laps.  Stitch  well,  up  and  down  the 
center.  This  makes  two  leaves  for  each 
strip  of  strong,  double  thickness  leaves. 

Choose  from  your  box  of  old  Christ- 
mas cards  the  largest  and  prettiest  one 
for  the  cover,  trimming  it  to  suit.  Fill 
the  rest  of  the  book,  picking  out  the 
cards  which  you  think  would  be  most 
pleasing  to  a  child,  using  only  the  pic- 
ture parts  of  them. 

You  will  be  amazed  at  how  attractive 
this  pick-up  scrapbook  can  be.  Pic- 
tures cut  from  magazines  can  be  used  in 
the   same   way,    just    as   satisfactorily. 


The  Romance  of  Starch  History 

Here's  a  bit  of  the  romantic  history 
of  the  starch  you  use  each  week  and 
take  so  much  for  granted. 

A  Mistress  Dingham  van  der  Plas- 
sen,  a  Fleming,  was  brought  over  to 
London  in  1564  to  teach  publicly  the 
art  of  starching  as  "professor  of  laundry 
work" — her  reception  was  comparable 
to  that  now  given  to  persons  of  highest 
rank!  Soon  after  her  visit,  tubs  and 
other  starching  utensils  were  seen  in  the 
most  aristocratic  residences,  and  wash- 
ing, drying,  and  ironing  were  performed 
in  the  presence  of  nobles,  as  are  music 
and  the  other  arts  today!  Then,  starches 
of  various  colors  were  introduced,  the 
yellow  variety  being  esteemed  best  for 
ruffs  and  other  articles,  although  a  blue- 
colored  starch  was  affected  by  the  Puri- 
tans. 

U.S.  Cadet  Nurse  Corps 

The  U.S.  Public  Health  Service  an- 
nounces that  60,000  new  student 
nurses  must  be  recruited  by  June  30, 
1945,  if  adequate  nursing  service  is  to 
be  maintained.  Enrollment  for  spring 
classes  is  starting  now.  The  corps  is  the 
largest  and  youngest  of  all  women's 
uniformed  organizations,  with  an  enroll- 
ment of  over  100,000  first,  second,  and 
third-year  students. 


Coofe  Corner 


Josephine  B.  Nichols 

In  very  child  is  entitled  to  a  hot  school 
*~*  lunch.  Does  your  child  receive  a 
hot  noon  lunch  which  meets  one  third 
of  his  daily  food  requirements? 

Menus  and  recipes  for  a  good  hot 
lunch  follow: 

Fish  Chowder 

Carrot  Strips  Crackers 

Apple  Pudding 

Milk 

Baked  Beans 

Gelatin  Vegetable  Salad 

Corn  Meal  Muffins  Butter 

Orange 

Milk 

Spaghetti  Meat  Casserole 

Cooked  Greens 

Whole  Wheat  Bread  Butter 

Canned  Fruit  Oatmeal  Cookies 

Milk 

Fish  Chowder 

2  pounds  fish,  salmon,  halibut,  or  cod 
1  quart  hot  fish  stock  or  water 
3-inch  cube  salt  pork 

1   onion,  sliced 
1   teaspoon  salt 

Y  teaspoon  pepper 
1   tablespoon  flour 

3  cups  potatoes  cut  in  %-inch  cubes 

1  cup  hot  milk 

2  hard-cooked  eggs 

Cut  pork  into  small  pieces,  and  try  out. 
Add  onion  and  fry  five  minutes. 

In  bottom  of  stew  pan  arrange  a  layer 
of  fish;  sprinkle  with  salt,  pepper,  and  flour. 
Arrange  next  a  layer  of  potatoes;  scatter 
over  with  onions  and  pork.  Pour  hot  fish 
stock  over  this.  Cook  slowly  for  forty-five 
minutes.  Add  hot  milk;  slice  hard-cooked 
eggs  over  top. 

Apple  Pudding 

2  cups  enriched  flour 

2  teaspoons  baking  powder 

Yi  teaspoon  salt 

J4  cup  shortening 

Ya  cup  milk 

2  tablespoons  butter  softened 

Yi  cup  firmly  packed  brown  sugar 

1  teaspoon  cinnamon 

1  quart  sliced  apples 
Yi  cup  honey 

2  tablespoons  butter  (for  top) 

Sift  flour,  measure;  add  baking  powder 
and  salt.  Cut  in  shortening  until  mixture 
resembles  coarse  meal.  Add  milk  all  at  once; 
mix  until  all  flour  is  dampened.  Turn  out 
on  floured  board;  knead  lightly.  Roll  into 
rectangle  Y  inch  thick.  Spread  with  softened 
butter;  sprinkle  with  combined  brown  sugar 
and  cinnamon.  Roll  up  as  for  jelly  roll.  Cut 
in  eight  to  ten  pieces.  Put  apples  in  but- 
tered two-quart  casserole.  Add  honey,  dot 
with  two  tablespoons  butter.  Place  cut  rolls 
on  top  of  apples;  bake  in  hot  oven  (400° 
F.)  for  fifty  minutes.  Serve  with  plain  or 
sweetened   cream. 

Corn  Meal  Muffins 
1   cup  yellow  corn  meal 
1   cup  sifted  flour 

Y  cup  sugar 

1  teaspoon  salt 

Yi  teaspoon  soda 

1  cup  thick  sour  milk  or  buttermilk 

1  egg  beaten 

2  tablespoons  melted  fat 

(Concluded  on  page  38) 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


xxVriif-'  ' '  i 


THERE'D   BETTER   BE! 


—and  that's  not  exactly  fooling,  for  the 
pre-war  car  and  the  wartime  car  now 
in  your  garage  must  still  make  good  a 
third  time . . .  pos  twar!  Not  even  prompt 
fast  new-car  production  can  assure  you 
of  delivery  before  1946  or  '47!  That's 
how  big  the  demand  is.  To  avoid  the 
rush  you  must  see  that  your  present  car 
is  blessed  with  strictly  superior  endur- 
ance— and  here  is  why  you  can  expect 
just  that,  as  soon  as  you  have  your 
engine  oil -plated. 
Protective  oil- 
plating  comes  from 
changing  to  Conoco 
N'A  motor  oil.  Like 
an  extra  surfacing 
added  direct  to  your 
engine's  fine  inner 


WHAT  MAKES  OIL-PLATING? 


Brilliant  advanced  research  by  the  makers 
of  Conoco  N'A  perfected  an  unprecedented 
motor  oil  ingredient.  Added  to  Conoco  Nth 
oil  this  forms  the  close  bond  between  metal 
and  oil-plating.  While  your  engine  runs, 
the  oil-plating  and  the  liquid  oil  are  teamed 
up  against  wear.  And  when  no  mere  liquid 
oil  can  serve — during  standing  or  ice-cold 
starting — your  engine's  protection  is  still 
maintained  by  faithful  oil-plating.  With 
higher  prices  on  new  cars  you  want  your  car 
in  shape  for  a  good  trade-in  .  .  .  What  if 
Conoco  N*A  oil  does  cost  a  trifle  more? 


finish— and  constantly  renewed  —  OiL- 
plating  defies  corrosion ;  defies  friction. 
Now  consider  that  highly  refined  Conoco 
N'*  oil,  made  of  superb  paraffin-base 
stock,  provides  a  most  durable  oil  film 
of  liquid  type,  as  well  as  oil-plating 
besides!  Then  you  can  begin  to  picture 
the  full  ability  of  this  patented  oil  to 
resist  engine  wear.  Wear  -  resistance  is 
the  true  basis  of  carbon-resistance  .  .  . 
sludge-resistance  .  .  .  engine  cleanliness 
. .  .  and  quick  starts  that  save  your  bat- 
tery. Keep  your  engine  oil -plated  and 

keep  up  your  con- 
fidence in  your  car. 
Change  to  N'A  oil 
now  at  Your  Mile- 
age  Merchant's 
Conoco  Station. 
Continental  Oil 
Company 


.  Be  sure  to  read  this  whole  ad 


CONOCO 


MOTOR  OIL 


JANUARY,  1945 


37 


Here's  How  to  Tell 
Which  Milk  is  Best 


Buy  several  brands  of  evaporated  milk,  open  each  can 
wide.  Check  each  milk  for  color,  texture  and  flavor. 
Note  Morning  Milk's  natural,  appetizing  color! 


Pour  each  brand  of  milk  into  a  pitcher  or  sauce  dish. 
Look  at  Morning  Milk's  rich,  creamy  texture. 


m. 


Then,  with  a  spoon,  taste  each  milk  undiluted  — ■ 
just  as  it  comes  from  the  can.  There's  the  real  test! 
Morning  Milk  has  a  finer  flavor — a  quality  flavor. 
You  can  taste  the  difference! 


Buy  Finer  -  Flavored 


MORNING  MILK 


MUSIC 


We  carry  large  stocks  of  music  suitable  for 
churches,  schools  and  home  use,  arranged  for 
vocal  and  instrumental  solos,  choirs,  bands  and 
orchestras.  We  specialize  in  L.  D.  S.  Church 
music.  Write  to  us  for  suggestions  and  mate- 
rial available. 

Dealers  in  Steinway  and  Lester  pianos,  band 
and  orchestra  instruments,  talking  machines, 
records  and  musicians'  supplies. 

DAYNES  MUSIC  CO. 


47  So.  Main  St. 
38 


Salt  Lake  City  1 


(Concluded  from  page  36) 
Sift  the  dry  ingredients  together.  Add 
the  milk  to  the  egg.  Combine  the  mixtures. 
Add  the  fat.  Beat  only  enough  to  mix.  Fill 
greased  muffin  tins  Y$  full.  Bake  at  425°  F. 
for  twenty  minutes. 

Spaghetti  Meat  Casserole 

%  cup  spaghetti 

2  quarts  boiling  water 

Ya  teaspoon  salt 

1  onion 

2  tablespoons  fat 

1  pound  hamburger 
Y  teaspoon  salt 

2  cups  grated  cheese 
2  cups  tomato  juice 

1  tablespoon  chopped  green  pepper 

Add  spaghetti  to  boiling  salted  water. 
Cook  until  tender.  Drain.  Melt  fat  and  add 
onion.  Add  hamburger  and  cook  until 
brown.  Add  green  pepper  and  tomato 
juice.  Mix  together  in  a  buttered  casserole 
and  cover  with  grated  cheese.  Bake  at  300° 
F.  for  one  hour. 

Oatmeal  Raisin  Cookies 
Yi  cup  shortening 
Yl  cup  sugar 
Yi  cup  firmly  packed  brown  sugar 

2  eggs 

1  cup  chopped  raisins 

Yi  cup  chopped  nuts 

Yi  cup  milk 

1  teaspoon  vanilla 
\Y  cups  sifted  flour 

•    1   teaspoon  baking  powder 
Yi  teaspoon  salt 
Yi  teaspoon  cinnamon 

2  cups  rolled  oats 

Cream  shortening;  add  sugars  gradually, 
beating  until  light.  Add  eggs  one  at  a  time, 
beating  well  after  each  addition.  Add 
raisins  and  nuts.  Add  dry  ingredients  alter- 
nately with  combined  milk  and  flavoring. 
Drop  by  spoonfuls  onto  greased  baking 
sheet.  Bake  in  moderate  oven  (375°  F.)  for 
fifteen  minutes.    Makes  three  dozen. 


Payment  for  Handy  Hints  used  will  be 
one  dollar  upon  publication.  In  the  event 
that  two  with  the  same  idea  are  submitted, 
the  one  postmarked  earlier  will  receive  the 
dollar.  None  of  the  ideas  can  be  returned, 
but  each  will  receive  careful  consideration. 


By  now  the  little  celluloid  Christmas  gifts 
such  as  rattles  and  dolls,  probably  have  a 
few  bends  in  them.  The  crushed  side  can 
be  drawn  out  to  normal  by  holding  the 
damaged  article  about  one  to  two  inches 
from  extreme  heat  (not  flame).  Remove 
from  heat  every  few  minutes,  then  repeat 
until  the  heat  has  drawn  out  the  bent  sides 
to  the  original  shape. — Mrs.  E.  C.  K.,  Olym- 
pia,  Washington. 

When  preparing  chicken  for  frying,  try- 
folding  the  tip  of  the  wing  under  the  first 
joint.  The  wing  then  will  make  a  neat  piece 
easily  cooked  and  tempting  to  eat. — Mrs. 
E.  L.,  Glenwood,  Alberta,  Canada. 

Don't  throw  out  your  son's  old  tennis 
racket.  It  makes  a  good  carpet  beater. — 
Mrs.  E.  P.,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah 

If  brown  sugar  is  hard  in  the  package  and 
you  wish  to  soften  it  to  measure,  simply  put 
it  on  a  pie  tin  in  the  oven  for  a  minute,  not 
any  longer,  and  it  will  be  ready  for  use. — 
T.  B.  P.,  Aurora,  Utah. 

To  the  housewives  who  make  their  own 
butter,  but  who  have  not  enough  cows  to 
justify  using  a  butter  worker,  I  find  that  by 
using  a  rolling  pin  and  a  good,  clean  bread 
board  or  a  well-planed  board  about  twenty- 
two  inches  square,  I  can  mix  my  butter 
more  evenly,  easily,  and  in  less  time  than  by 
using  a  paddle. — Mrs.  E.  V.,  Bradfordville, 
Kentucky. 


EARLY  INDIANS 


(Concluded  from  page  3) 
about  equally  divided  between  hunting 
and  farming.  Their  methods  of  hunting 
and  trapping  were  ingeniously  devised. 
Small  rodents  and  birds  were  snared 
and  rabbits  were  driven  into  a  woven 
net  very  similar  to  a  modern  tennis  net. 


As  these  early  inhabitants  of  south- 
ern Utah  became  more  agricultural, 
their  culture  became  more  involved; 
and  their  artistic  attainments  became 
more  varied.  We  will  follow  their  de- 
velopment down  to  the  present-day 
Indians. 


TEA  GARDEN 

Menu  Hit 


Sunday's 

Main  Course 

• 

Roast  Chicken 
Baked  Squash 

• 

Drop  Biscuits 
Tea  Garden  Bing 
Cherry  Preserves 


^^    ' 


When  norhing  but  the  best  will  do  . . .  serve 
Tea  Garden  Bing  Cherry  Preserves.  Made  of 
finest  table  cherries,  picked  when  they're  deep 
red-ripe  and  sweet.  Tenderly  handled,  care- 
fully pitted,  simmered  slowly  and  gently.they 
become  preserves  of  superlative  excellence! 


THE  IMPROVBMENT  ERA 


cros  from  the  Camps 


India 
Dear  Editors: 

I  hardly  know  how  to  begin  but  I  will  try 
to  make  a  good  attempt  at  expressing  my 
thoughts  and  gratitude  to  the  editors  of  The 
Improvement  Era. 

I  received  a  recent  issue  a  few  weeks  ago 
and  was  very  happy  to  see  that  the  con- 
ference addresses  were  there.  And  that  is 
whom  I  wish  to  write  to — those,  who  gave 
those  talks — the  leaders  of  our  Church. 

When  I  was  home  I  always  looked  for- 
ward to  the  annual  conferences,  the  wonder- 
ful talks  given,  the  enjoyable  music  given 
by  the  Tabernacle  Choir. 

The  past  year  I  have  missed  these  meet- 
ings greatly.  Also  the  priesthood  meetings 
of  our  ward.  I  miss  all  of  these  and  our 
own  members  of  the  Church  more  than  I 
ever  realized. 

As  I  read  the  conference  addresses,  my 
mind  went  back  to  the  beautiful  tabernacle, 
and  I  imagined  myself  sitting  among  the 
brethren  and  sisters  at  this  meeting.  As  I 
read  these  talks,  tears  came  into  my  eyes 
from  appreciation  and  thankfulness  to  the 
leaders  of  our  Church  for  the  glorious  teach- 
ings which  they  have  given  us,  the  bless- 
ings they  bestowed  on  us  the  Latter-day 
Saints. 

At  present  where  I  am  I  have  found  but 
two  boys  from  Utah— one  who  had  been  on 
a  mission,  who  was  from  Salt  Lake,  and  the 
other  one  from  Ogden.  So  you  see  how 
scattered  we  are. 

Never  before  have  I  had  such  a  strong 
testimony  of  the  gospel.  I  am  so  proud  and 
thankful  to  be  a  member  of  the  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints. 

My  appreciation  again  to  you,  the  editors, 
for  the  wonderful  teachings  you  have  in  the 
Era-  Howard  Zaugg,  Pfc. 


Camp  Hann,  California 

WE  tramp  along  in  the  dust.  We  fill  the 
monotonous  routine  of  a  soldier's  life 
— deprived  of  many  things  that  make  life 
rich  and  beautiful.  We  feel  the  lack  of  sur- 
roundings of  culture  and  refinement — gar- 
dens and  trees,  music,  the  companionship  of 
parents,  or  sweethearts,  or  wife,  or  children. 
We  do  not  enjoy  the  full  utilization  of  our 
talents.  Our  minds  are  focused  on  material 
things.  We  live  in  the  dirt,  and  look  at  the 
dirt  until  we  feel  a  part  of  it.  There  is  a 
tendency  for  all  of  us  to  lose  sight  of  who 
we  are,  and  why  we  are,  and  what  our  re- 
sponsibilities are  (and  if  that  is  not  enough 
—some  of  our  associates  try  to  talk  us  out 
of  it  and  help  us  forget  who  we  are).  For 
we  are  more  than  men — more  than  soldiers 
— we  are  sons  of  God,  our  Eternal  Father, 
born  to  a  glorious  destiny. 

With  this  consciousness  of  our  own  digni- 
ty and  worth,  with  the  calm  assurance  that 
comes  from  righteous  living,  with  the  com- 
panionship of  the  Holy  Ghost,  our  hearts 
are  not  depressed  nor  our  vision  clouded  by 
any  circumstance  we  face.  Life  becomes 
sweeter.  We  gain  a  certain  nobility  of  pur- 
pose that  keeps  us  from  doing  those  things 
which  retard  and  interfere  with  our  eternal 
progress.  Without  spirituality  we  lose  hope, 
we  cannot  see  clearly  and  life  becomes 
something  to  endure  rather  than  to  enjoy. 
The  Savior  said,  "I  am  come  that  ye  may 
have  life,  and  that  more  abundantly."  This 
means  "life  more  abundantly"  now  and  life 
more  abundantly  hereafter. 

1st  Lt.  Douglas  Christensen 
JANUARY,  1945 


HELP  US  REMEMBER 

■pOOLiSH  days  perhaps;  foolish  days 
•*-     When  taps  and  reveille  were  unknown. 
Carefree  kids  we  were,  always  very  sure 
"That  time    reaps   not  what   you    have 
sown." 

Movies,    parties,    dances,   puppy    love   ro- 
mances 
That  broke  our  youthful  hearts  in  two. 
And  older  folks  looked  on,  and  dreamed  of 
days  long  gone 
When  they  were  young  and   cares   for 
them  were  few. 

And  we  away  from  home,  don't  want  to  feel 

alone 

In  this  great  struggle  to  protect  our  rights. 

Ah,  we're  not  losing  trust.    It's — well,  it's 

just 

That  it's  kinda  lonesome  here  some  nights. 

And  we  get  to  thinking  back,  as  we  lay  here 

on  our  "sack," 

Back  to  days  we  spent  at  home  with  you. 

And  we're  homesick  for  'em,  wishing   for 

'em, 

And  thinkin'  of  'em  makes  us  sorta  blue. 

So  please  drop  us  a  line,  when  you  can  find 
the  time, 
And  help  us,  just  a  little  note. 
For  when  all  this  is  through,  we're  coming 
back  to  you, 
To  thank  you  for  those  "memories"  that 
you  wrote. 

Hyrum  Edwin  Dewsnup  Redford, 
Pfc.  U.S.  Marine  Corps  Reserve 


Somewhere  in  the  Pacific  (Delayed) 

Speaking  from  the  pulpit  of  a  tiny  Mor- 
mon chapel  in  the  mid-Pacific,  Marine 
Private  First  Class  Ovis  Dilworth  of  Carey, 
Idaho,  has  preached  his  fourth  Mormon 
sermon  since  arriving  here  from  Tarawa. 

The  stocky  youth  hardly  looked  the  part 
of  a  preacher  with  his  G.I.  haircut  and  khaki 
uniform,  but  he  is  already  well  known  here 
for  his  interest  in  religion. 

His  congregation  included  the  natives  of 
the  Latter-day  Saint  Church  branch  or- 
ganized here  at  an  earlier  time  by  mission- 
aries, and  about  twenty  Mormon  members 
of  the  famous  Second  Marine  Division, 
which  was  awarded  a  Presidential  Unit 
Citation  after  the  Tarawa  campaign. 

Most  of  these  Mormon  boys,  including 
Private  First  Class  Dilworth,  are  members 
of  the  "Modern  Mormon  Battalion,"  re- 
cruited in  the  summer  of  1942  in  the  moun- 
tain area. 

The  Mormon  Battalion  members  were 
particularly  pleased  at  finding  an  L.D.S. 
chapel  on  the  island,  since  there  is  no  Mor- 
mon chaplain  attached  to  the  Second  Divi- 
sion, and  it  has  been  their  first  opportunity 
for  organized  worship  in  a  long  time.- — Re- 
ported by  John  D.  Thornley. 


Soaks  clothes  WHITER 


Leaves  no  rings  on 
dishpan  or  washtub 


Keeps  baby  things 
immaculate 

LOTS  OF 
SUDS 

~EVEN  IN 


Courtesy  and 
Friendliness 

Will  Mat  be 
Rationed  in  1945 

In  fact,  during  these 
troubled  times,  we  have 
tried  to  serve  double 
portions  of  courtesy  and 
friendliness.  And  we 
never  like  to  say  "Sorry, 
no  accommodations."  So 
won't  you  please  con- 
tinue to  make  your  res- 
ervations in  advance? 
Thank  you! 

Hotel 

Temple  Square 

Salt  Lake  City 


CLARENCE  L  WEST 
Manager 


t&2* 


VWW5 


Part  I 

"T  7V  TILLIAMS'  I  thought  you  knew 
\l\l  tnese  mountains  after  trapping 
V   V    in  them  for  twenty  years!" 
At   Fremont's   stinging   rebuke,    Bill 
Williams,  guide  of  the  expedition  quiet- 
ly swept  the  confusing  snowland  with 
red,  squinted  eyes. 

"Our  trappin',  Captain,  was  done  in 
the  valleys  and  in  the  early  spring.  This 
here  blindin'  snow  has  went  and  hid 
all  the  landmarks."  Then  with  a  click 
of  his  lantern  jaws  the  tall,  stoop- 
shouldered  mountain  man  turned  on 
Fremont.  "At  Fort  Bent  they  told  you 
it  was  plum'  useless  tryin'  to  cross  these 
mountains  in  the  dead  of  winter.  Looks 
like  it's  true!"     s 

Fremont's  blue  eyes  flashed.  "Four 
years  ago  they  said  I  could  not  cross  the 
Sierras,  but  I  did."  Then  pinning  the 
old  guide,  with  a  challenge  in  his  blaz- 
ing eyes  Fremont  declared:  "There's 
a  low  pass  somewhere  in  these  moun- 
tains, Williams,  and  you  know  it.  If 
you  lead  us  to  it,  the  expedition  will 
succeed.   If  you  blunder — " 

It  was  a  bitter  cold  day  in  mid-De- 
cember, 1848.  Thirty-three  men,  headed 
by  Fremont,  the  historic  Pathfinder, 
were  struggling  up  the  eastern  side  of 
the  snow- swept  San  Juan  mountains. 
Since  leaving  Bent's  Fort  on  the 
Arkansas,  already  they  had  plunged 
waist-deep  in  the  snows  of  the  Sangre 

40 


J-retnont  in,  the  J^an  /juan  J^>y 
Sleeking  a  JKailroad  f\ou-te  11848 


de  Cristo  and  had  crossed  that  moun- 
tain range  successfully.  They  had 
waded  the  shallow  snows  of  the  broad 
and  beautiful  San  Luis  valley;  had 
camped  on  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande; 
and  now  were  buffeting  the  deeper 
snows  of  the  San  Juan  range. 

Theirs  was  no  dramatic  rescue  ex- 
pedition. Nor  was  it  a  gold-seeking 
miner's  cavalcade.  But  it  was  of  epic 
importance.  Upon  the  success  or  failure 
of  this  winter  trip  across  the  moun- 
tains, a  vital  question  hung. 

Where  should  the  first  transconti- 
nental railroad  be  built? 

While  that  question  for  years  had 
been  puzzling  Congress,  it  was  burning 
the  rival  sections  of  the  country,  too. 
The  North,  the  South,  the  Central — 
each  was  pressing  its  respective  route. 

Senator  Benton  of  Missouri,  Fre- 
mont's father-in-law,  declared  his,  the 
central  route,  was  the  most  logical  loca- 
tion for  a  railroad  since  it  could  con- 
veniently serve  all  sections.  But  Con- 
gress doubted  that  this  central  route 
could  be  open  and  usable  for  year- 
round  travel.  Fremont  was  here  to  find 
out.  If  he  succeeded  in  getting  through 
the  mountains .  in  winter,  in  surveying 
a  route  from  Fort  Bent  to  the  Pacific 


Coast,  then  Missouri,  his  adopted  state, 
should  receive  the  wealth  and  advan- 
tage which  the  government  railroad 
would  promote. 

By  heaven,  this  expedition  must  not 
fail!  But  this  unusually  heavy  snow 
was  baffling.  Never  in  years,  said  the 
trappers,  had  there  been  such  a  winter. 
Well,  if  he  succeeded  in  making  the 
trip  through  this,  what  stronger  proof 
could  be  desired  for  the  route's  feasibil- 
ity? 

/^arefully  Fremont  replaced  the  field 
^*  glasses  in  the  case.  "We're  not 
heading  for  the  pass  that  was  pointed 
out  to  me  from  the  valley,  Williams. 
That's  to  the  right  of  us,"  he  said 
grimly. 

"We're  heading  for  the  right  pass 
all  right,"  asserted  the  guide.  "It's  just 
this  blazin'  snow  that  I  ain't  likin'." 
Then  as  he  saw  the  wavering  look  on 
Fremont's  troubled  face,  he  added: 
"Do  you  want  me  to  lead  this  party,  or 
don't  ye?  If  ye  can't  take  my  say-so, 
I'm  quittin'." 

Fremont  had  never  been  in  the  moun- 
tains. There  was  naught  that  he  could 
do  but  follow  the  guide  and  trust  that 
the   mountaineer   would    not   blunder. 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


And  yet — he  turned  and  gave  the  order 
to  proceed. 

The  wind,  whistling  through  the 
pines,  whipped  tiny  icicles  about  the 
men,  stinging  their  faces  like  pinpricks. 
The  pack  mules,  one  hundred  twenty 
of  them  loaded  with  equipment  and 
supplies,  continually  tried  to  turn  back. 
Their  instincts  told  them  that  unless 
they  went  back  down  into  the  warmer 
valley,  they  would  surely  freeze.  They 
knew. 

Four  days  now  men  and  mules  had 
been  fighting  their  way  up  a  mountain 
pass.  They  were  nearing  timber  line. 
Not  far  beyond,  a  mile  or  so,  was  the 
naked  treeless  summit  of  the  range, 
and  then — or  so  they  hoped — then  they 
must  surely  see  a  temperate  valley  of 
a  tributary  of  the  Colorado  far  below 
to  the  west.  With  the  sight  of  that  val- 
ley would  come  an  assurance  of  safety 
— if  the  guide  had  led  them  aright. 

Spurred  on  by  the  defiant  courage 
that  quickens  on  nearing  a  goal,  the 
party  keyed  their  efforts  to  make  the 
summit  before  dark  should  fall.  But  a 
blinding  blizzard  met  them  on  the  top 
lands.  The  wind  that  swept  the  ridges 
roared  off  arctic  glaciers.  It  slapped  the 
hungry  men  and  tired  mules  with  re- 
lentless fury.  Ears,  noses,  fingers,  and 
toes  in  ragged  shoes,  burned  under  its 
hot  blasts.  Even  Williams  the  moun- 
tain guide  grew  drowsy  and  would 
have  sunk  in  the  drifts,  but  Fremont 
caught  his  arm.  They  must  back  down 
to  timber  line  or  the  storm  would  claim 
them  all.  Fremont's  desperate  order  to 
reverse  was  but  vapor  in  the  slashing 
of  the  winds. 

But  already  man  and  beast  were  fall- 
ing back  toward  shelter.  What  need  of 
human  orders  when  instincts,  born  wis- 

JANUARY,  1945 


dom  of  centuries  of  pain,  commanded 
the  retreat?  Back  down  the  trail  they 
went,  that  trail  they  had  labored  so  to 
make. 

\17ith  the  sun  lost  in  the  snowstorm, 
darkness  came  early.  The  retreat 
stopped  in  the  fringe  of  the  timber  line. 
With  painful  frosted  hands  the  men 
dug  pits  in  the  deepening  snow  to  shelter 
them  from  the  storm.  They  unloaded 
packs  and  camped.  With  dry  limbs 
broken  from  trees,  each  pit  soon  had  a 
crackling  fire.  The  chilled  explorers 
held  out  their  hands  to  the  friendly 
blaze.  And  in  the  glow  of  the  leaping 
flames,  their  stiff,  wet  clothes  were 
dried,  their  spirits  comforted.  The 
hoary  bristles  of  their  unkempt  beards 
dripped  moisture  under  the  melting 
warmth. 

Soon  the  odor  of  boiling  coffee  and 
sizzling  bacon  made  mouths  water,  and 
helped  the  men  to  endure  the  piercing 


—Illustrated  by   John  Henry    Evans,    Jr. 


on  previous  trips,  sat  with  him  in  the 
circle.   Fremont's  face  was  grim. 

"Barometer  reads  12,000  feet,  Wil- 
liams. Pretty  high  for  a  low  mountain 
pass.  Any  use  trying  to  cross  the  sum- 
mit?" 

"I  ain't  said  we're  at  the  wrong  pass, 
have  I,  Captain?"  Bill  Williams  sat 
with  his  back  to  the  circle,  his  greasy 
buckskin  suit  shiny  in  the  fire's  glow. 
Then  twisting  his  lanky  neck,  he  glared 
at  the  Pathfinder.  "I  told  ye  if  I  was 
guide  my  say-so  went.  If  we  buck  this 
nor 'wester  at  the  summit,  and  get  goin' 
down'ards  to  the  west — if  the  mules  pull 
through — we're  sure  to  have  better 
goin'  from  then  on.  That  so,  Godey?" 
Bill's  huge  jaw  clicked. 

"Williams  ought  to  know  what  he's 
doin',  Captain,"  counseled  Godey. 

But  King  looked  dubious.  "Too  high 
for  Cochetopa  Pass,"  he  asserted. 

Through  the  long  night  the  cold 
grew   colder.    Mule   after   mule   froze 


By  ANN  WOODBURY  HAFEN 


cold.  Outside,  the  mules  were  fed  their 
little  rations  of  shelled  corn.  Then  with 
dejected  heads  they  huddled  together 
to  share  the  warmth  of  their  bodies, 
while  the  snow  beat  on  their  helpless 
backs. 

The  mercury  descended  to  the  bulb 
in  the  camp  thermometer.  No  one  knew 
how  cold  it  was  that  night.  In  one  of 
the  fire-lit  pits,  with  the  ice  blizzard 
roaring  just  above  their  heads,  Fremont 
and  three  of  his  men  discussed  plans 
for  the  morrow.  Guide  Williams  and 
two  mountain  men,  Godey  and  King, 
who  had  accompanied   the   Pathfinder 


stiff  as  he  stood,  and  fell  over  with  a 
thud  like  a  heavy  wooden  block.  Be- 
side the  fire,  or  under  a  snow  blanket, 
the  men  took  what  sleep  they  could, 
and  shivered  for  their  freezing  animals. 

Tn  the  cold  gray  morning,  one  third  of 
the  one  hundred  twenty  mules  lay 
dead.  Not  gaunt  gray  heaps  of  mule- 
bones,  but  softly  rounded  white  hil- 
locks they  lay,  where  gnawing  hunger 
and  stinging  winds  could  distress  them 
no  more.  The  blizzard  was  stilled,  but 
the  air  hung  cold  as  an  arctic  moon. 

(Continued  on  page  42) 

41 


(Continued  from  page  41) 

"Captain,  we  oughter  cross  this  sum- 
mit 'fore  any  more  critturs  gits  rubbed 
out,"  asserted  Williams. 

Every  man  was  willing  to  make  the 
try.  For  after  the  summit,  perhaps  com- 
fort in  a  valley  below. 

To  spare  the  trembling  mules  left 
alive,  the  men  made  mauls,  wooden 
hammers  of  pine  tree  limbs,  and  beat 
down  the  snow  to  form  a  solid  trail  on 
toward  the  crest  of  the  mountain.  They 
worked  in  reliefs.  Panting,  perspiring 
in  the  high  altitude,  the  advance  shift 
smashed  down  the  snow  for  a  few 
yards;  then  gasping,  fell  to  the  side, 
while  the  next  group  took  its  turn  at 
breaking  trail. 

In  this  miniature  snow  canyon,  some- 
times above  their  heads,  on,  foot  by 
foot,  with  a  dry  powdery  snow,  icy 
cold,  beating  upon  them,  men  and  mules 
climbed  the  barren  timber  line.  At  last 
the  summit! 

But  nothing  could  they  see  through 
the  white  sky  blizzard  obscuring  the 
western  scene.  A  sudden  gale  from  the 
northlands  cut  each  man's  world  to  a 
dizzy  pale  four-foot  battlefield,  with 
the  snow-caked  heels  of  a  pack  mule 
or  the  print  of  a  companion's  foot  as  its 
only  distraction. 

"On!"  Blindly  all  pushed  on.  No 
stopping  here.  Over  the  crest  they  bat- 
tered their  way,  clubbing  the  snow;  and 
down,  slowly  down  the  western  side 
to  the  timber  line.  There  the  snows 
stopped  them,  held  them  prisoners,  in 
the  soft  deep  drifts.  The  mauls  were 
useless.  Through  these  miles  of  frozen 
feathers  nothing  could  go.  Higher  than 
their  heads,  deeper,  deeper,  and  deeper. 
To  go  into  this  snow  powder  was  to 
smother.  The  white  down,  swirled  by 
the  gale,  choked  them.  To  breathe  this 
snow  dust  seared  the  lungs  and  hurt  the 


THE  LOST  PATHFINDER 

teeth.  Behind,  exhausted  mules  glutted 
the  narrow  trail,  or  floundered  a  little 
in  the  downy-white  graves  of  death. 

Benumbed  hands  shoveled  snow  pits 
again.  Frost-split  fingers,  that  did  not 
bleed,  again  broke  tree  boughs  for  fires. 
Stupefied  snow  men  unpacked  numbed 
mules,  and  lugged  blankets  and  provi- 
sions to  the  tiny  safety  pits.  With  an 
axe  one  man  chopped  up  a  frozen  mule. 
As  night  fell,  steaming  mule  soup  and 
macaroni  thawed  bewildered  brains. 
Half-thankful,  half-fearful,  the  men 
whispered  around  the  sputtering  fires. 
They  had  crossed  the  summit.  But  what 
was  before  them?  Down  there?  Go  on 
or  back?  Go  back  over  that  awful  sum- 
mit? Only  dawn  and  a  clear  sky  could 
answer  their  questionings.  But  this  bit- 
ter night  was  not  yet  done. 

HPhrough  the  night  the  starving  mules 
could  find  no  peace.  With  snow 
deep  enough  to  bury  them,  they  could 
not  nose  around  for  pine  needles  or  dry 
grass  near  camp.  Only  on  the  summit 
where  the  wind  swept  the  ridges  free  of 
snow  could  any  grass  be  found.  But 
there  the  raw  cold  was  so  intense  no 
life  could  long  survive.  Desperate  for 
food,  however,  they  sought  the  barren 
upland.  When  arctic  gales  lashed,  they 
huddled  together  or  gave  weird  cries 
and,  panic-stricken,  rushed  downward 
towards  the  timbers,  to  be  lost  in  the 
twenty-foot  drifts.  Sightless  swords 
were  driven  into  their  vitals  by  the 
arctic  that  knew  no  mercy.  The  men, 
in  their  pits,  heard  the  lost  cries  of  their 
faithful  mules,  and  shuddered  for  the 
morrow. 

Ages  it  seemed,  but  the  dawn  came. 
And  with  it  a  lull  in  the  driving  snow. 
The  cold  was  bitter.  Fremont,  long 
awake,  had  waited  fearfully  for  the 
morning's  revelations.   His  heart  turned 


cold  as  he  looked.  The  gray  curtain 
lifting  showed  only  the  impossible.  In- 
stead of  the  welcome  valley,  only 
snowy  mountains  pile  on  pile,  in  their 
ghastly  magnificence.  Impossible!  Wil- 
liams had  blundered.  Instead  of  the 
low  Cochetopa  Pass,  Williams  had  led 
them  into  the  very  heart  of  the  highest 
San  Juan  mountains  in  the  dead  of  win- 
ter. Ahead  there  was  no  hope.  Back 
was  the  only  escape  from  the  eternal 
snows.  Nothing  to  do  but  return.  Fre- 
mont the  conqueror,  faced  defeat.  He 
looked  long  over  that  white  inferno,  so 
far,  so  silent,  and  so  fatal. 

Time  and  again  in  the  thirty-six  years 
of  his  young  life  he  had  done  the  im- 
possible. He  had  crossed  rivers  rolling 
with  flood,  or  blocked  with  floating  ice. 
He  had  charted  a  way  to  the  west  of  the 
Great  Salt  Lake,  across  a  thirsty  desert 
of  crusted  salt  and  alkali,  white  as  the 
San  Juans  ahead.  He  had  explored  dark 
precipitous  canyons,  navigated  rivers 
perilous  with  cataracts.  Through  hostile 
Indian  country  he  had  forced  his  way, 
nor  turned  back  when  red  danger 
crossed  his  trail.  But  now  he  was  facing 
his  most  severe  test.  He,  the  historic 
Pathfinder  of  the  nation,  was  lost  in  the 
San  Juan  snows. 

No  time  now  to  mourn  for  a  railroad 
route.  The  lives  of  his  men  must  be 
saved.  That  now  was  his  one  objec- 
tive. The  nearest  relief  lay  in  the  Red 
River  settlement  of  New  Mexico,  be- 
hind him,  back  across  the  pass.  That 
could  be  reached  only  by  ten  days' 
travel  through  snows  waist  deep.  Too, 
the  journey  must  be  made  on  foot,  for 
not  one  of  the  eighty  mules  remaining 
when  camp  was  made  had  survived  the 
terrible  night.  Two  days  of  this  had 
killed  every  one  of  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty  mules,  and  two  more  days  of 
this  would  kill  every  man. 

(To  be  concluded) 


(Concluded  [rom  page  7) 
with  gifted  artist,  this  poem  becomes  an  ex- 
perience— that  both  adult  and  child  should 
enjoy,  preferably  together.  There  is  some- 
thing of  humanity  in  the  earnest  prayer,  in 
the  lines: 

Bless  other  children,  far  and  near, 
And  keep  them  safe,  and  free  from  fear. 

—M.  C.  J. 

BRIDE  IN  THE  SOLOMONS 

(Osa  Johnson.  Houghton  Mifflin  Company, 

Boston.    1944.    251  pages.    $3.00.) 

OSA  and  Martin  Johnson  won  a  deserved 
reputations  for  their  fearless  pursuit  of 
the  unusual  in  picture  and  word.  Two  earlier 
books  of  Osa  Johnson  have  already  assured 
her  of  an  avid  reading  public  in  this  latest 
book,  Bride  in  the  Solomons. 

Complete  with  sixty  illustrations,  the  book 
is  surely  a  release  book  which  will  offer  es- 
cape from  too  emotional  situations  and  send 
the  reader  back  after  reading,  able  to  reach 
better  conclusions  as  a  result  of  the  release. 
In  point  of  time,  the  book  is  a  successor  to 
I   Married  Adventure  and   Four   Years   in 

42 


ON  THE  BOOKRACK 

Paradise.  In  location,  the  names  have  a 
familiar  ring,  for  it  is  in  this  very  section  of 
the  Pacific  that  the  war  against  Japan  is 
being  and  has  been  fought. 

And  in  the  light  of  the  present  war,  one 
cannot  help  wondering  whether  the  canni- 
bals the  Johnsons  went  to  photograph  and 
study  are  any  worse  than  so-called  civilized 
man  who  with  all  the  trappings  of  modern 
living  can  turn  the  technological  achieve- 
ments to  weapons  of  devastation. — M.  C.  ]. 

BEQUEST  OF  WINGS 

(Annis  Duff.    Viking,  New  York. 

1944.    204  pages.    $2.00.) 

To  a  family,  nothing  can  compare  to  the 
pleasure  that  derives  from  the  reading 
together  of  good  books.  Such  experiences 
weld  a  family  into  a  oneness  that  no  exterior 
force  can  break  or  change — no  matter  what 
distances  later  separate  the  members.  A 
treasured  sentence  or  a  remembered  phrase 
written  into  a  letter  will  serve  to  call  to 
mind  a  whole  series  of  pleasant  evenings 
spent  in  the  home  while  one  or  another  per- 
son read  a  story.  This  book  indicates  that 
this   relationship   will    lead   naturally    from 


the  story  angle  into  art,  music,  nature,  as 
well  as  other  fields  in  which  children  might 
be  interested. 

The  author  indicates  that  different  kinds 
of  books  should  be  read:  including  funny 
books  which  will  delight  young  and  old. 
Appended  to  the  book  is  a  complete  list  of 
books  which  will  direct  to  a  wise  beginning 
in  family  reading. — M.  C.  J. 

SEA  BEE 

(Henry   B.  Lent.    Macmillan   Company, 

New  York.    1944.    176  pages.    $2.00.) 

Fully  illustrated  with  official  U.  S.  navy 
photographs,  this  is  a  book  that  the 
older  boy  will  be  proud  to  discuss  with  his 
dad,  and  vice  versa.  Through  the  training 
of  Bill  Scott,  from  his  boot  camp,  the  author 
has  traced  all  the  steps  of  the  military  train- 
ing of  Bill  and  his  shipmates  until  they  are 
permanently  assigned  and  embark  on  their 
secret  mission.  This  book  will  make  all 
folk  respect  the  training  that  these  young 
people  receive  and  will  build  confidence  in 
the  preparedness  with  which  the  See  Bees 
enter  into  their  service  for  the  United  States. 

— M.  C.  /. 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


The  Church  Moves  On 

(Concluded  from  page  25) 

Peter  Munk 

"Deter  Munk,  the  third  resident  of 
*■  Utah  known  to  the  Old  Folks'  Cen- 
tral Committee  to  have  reached  his 
hundredth  birthday  September  21,   at 


PETER  MUNK 

Manti,  Utah,  was  honored  on  the  Sun- 
day following,  by  a  pageant  given  in  the 
Manti  Second  Ward.  A  native  of  Born- 
holm,  Denmark,  he  emigrated  to  Utah 
in  1852,  and  in  the  early  days  was  an 
Indian  fighter. — Reported  by  Harold 
Jenson. 

Missionaries  Released 

November 

East  Central  States:  Gale  William  Lind- 
strom,  Salt  Lake  City;  Robert  Gail  Mur- 
dock,  Salt  Lake  City;  George  Robert  Quist, 
Salt  Lake  City;  Roy  Speirs  Jensen,  Brigham 
City,  Utah. 

New  England:  Henry  George  Lawrence, 
Salt  Lake  City. 

Northern  States:  Marie  Egbert,  Idaho 
Falls,  Idaho;  Chloe  Eugene  Rainey  Harri- 
son, Richmond,  Utah;  LeGrande  Mangel- 
son,  Levan,  Utah;  Hannah  Maria  C. 
Saunders,  Hyde  Park,  Utah;  Alma  Saund- 
ers, Hyde  Park,  Utah;  Luella  Isabelle  Nel- 
son, LaGrande,  Oregon. 

North  Central  States:  Loa  Elna  Nelson 
Steed,  Sandy,  Utah. 

Southern  States:  Charles  Henry  Pearce, 
Salt  Lake  City;  Elzina  Larsen  Pearce,  Salt 
Lake  City. 

Spanish' American:  Melvin  Richard 
Brooks,  Salt  Lake  City;  Earl  Dean  Evans, 
Rigby,  Idaho;  Byron  Austin  Haws,  Vernal, 
Utah;  Lloyd  William  McArthur,  Twin 
Falls,  Idaho;  Thomas  Pool  McFarland, 
Casper,  Wyoming;  Kenneth  Dale  Philips, 
Ogden,  Utah;  Roland  Chambers  Wright, 
Ogden,  Utah;  James  Richard  Parkhurst, 
Wilmington,  California. 

Texas:  Henry  Thomas  Maw,  Plain  City, 
Utah. 

Western  States:  Marcia  Grace  Herron 
Davis,  Salt  Lake  City. 

Western  Canadian:  Clair  LeRoy  Phillips, 
Salt  Lake  City;  Robert  Lenox  Pratt,  Salt 
Lake  City;  Elizabeth  Briggs,  Magrath,  Al- 
berta, Canada. 

Excommunications 

Martha  Ellen  Cornwall  Waite,  born 
September  28,  1891.  Excommunicated 
November  1,  1944,  in  the  Twenty-first 
Ward,  Emigration  Stake. 

JANUARY,  1945 


AN  UNUSUAL  FAMILY 

Ten  children  of  Bishop  and  Mrs.  William  Keith  Clark,  Inkom  Ward,  from  left  to  right,  back  row:  Louise 
Clark,  Primary  organist;  Donald  Clark,  elder,  has  an  honorable  discharge  from  navy,  counselor  in  Y. M.M.I. A., 
ward  missionary,  counselor  in  elders  quorum;  Marcell  Clark  Warner,  (husband  in  service  in  France),  ward 
missionary,  chorister  in  Primary,  teacher  of  junior  class  in  Mutual,  literary  teacher  in  Relief  Society;  Glen 
Clark,  elder  (now  in  army,  Camp  Hood,  Texas),  was  secretary  of  Aaronic  Priesthood,  president  of  priests 
quorum;  Betty  Clark,  secretary  of  Sunday  School,  Primary  teacher. 

Front  row:  John  Clark,  deacon  and  Boy  Scout;  Dorothy  Clark,  two  years  old;  Mrs.  Ellen  Clark,  ward 
missionary,  ward  organist,  Sunday  School  chorister,  Relief  Society  chorister,  Genealogy  class  leader  in  Sunday 
School,  Relief  Society  visiting  teacher;  Bonnie  Clark,  five  years  old;  Bishop  William  Keith  Clark;  Myrna 
Clark,  seven  years  old;  and  Elaine  Clark,  ten  years  old. 

All  are  full  tithepayers  and  keep  the  Word  of  Wisdom. 


Y.W.M.I.A. 

CHORUS, 

ORANGEVILLE 

WARD 


The  Orangeville  Ward  Juniors  and  Gleaners  were  recently  organized  into  a  chorus  by  Elva  Killian  with 
Elizabeth  Cox  as  secretary,  singing  at  numerous  Church  gatherings,  including  sacrament  meeting,  at  farewell 
parties  for  departing  soldiers,  for  July  4th  and  24th  programs,  and  at  funerals.  They  have  also  visited  most 
of  the  other  wards  in  the  stake. 

A  musical  program  at  Christmas  time  with  soloists,  trios,  and  the  chorus  proved  very  successful.  The 
girls  continued  singing  at  many  gatherings  and  recently  presented  "Sunday  Evening  Service  In  Song." 

MISSIONARIES  ENTERING  THE  MISSIONARY  HOME  NOVEMBER  6,  AND  LEAVING  NOVEMBER  16,  1944 


Reading  from  left  to  right,  first  row:  Esther  V.  D.  Camp,  Hulda  W.  Peterson,  Alice  Servoss,  Martha  Grace 
Nelson,  Don  B.  Cotton,  Mable  M.  Winn,  Heber  E.  Winn,  Matthew  F.  Bird,  Samuel  Keiser. 

Second  row:  William  P.  Camp,  Jr.,  S.  W.  Peterson,  Guy  Servoss,  M.  D.  Provost,  Joseph  Davies,  Leroy 
S.  Fairbanks,  Iva  Adell  Fox,  J.  E.  Hansen,  Heber  C.  Butler. 

Third  row:    George  C.  Manning,  Eliza  R.  Manning,  Charles  W.  Brown,  C.  A.  Holm,  Bert.  U.  Dickerson. 

Fourth  row:  Hyrum  T.  Moss,  Lula  Moss,  W.  R.  Nash,  Murie  Nash,  Mary  Watson,  Henry  D.  Watson,  Lena 
Johnson,  John  E.  Johnson. 

Fifth  row:  Calvin  D.  McOmber,  Sr.,  Achsah  S.  McOmber,  Henry  M.  Zollinger,  Eliza  Zollinger,  Austin  Earl 
Hollingsworth,  Irene  Jesperson,  Derrald  Ricks,  E.  Y.  Moore. 

Sixth  row:  Grover  F.  Coshow,  Edward  A.  Everett,  Sam  J.  Black,  Thomas  Thorpe,  Thomas  L.  Redford, 
Harry  D.  Wells,  Albert  W.  Harrison.  Granville  Oleson. 


George  Wallace  Bird,  born  January  7, 
1914,  elder.  Excommunicated  October  24, 
1944,  in  the  Edmonton  Branch,  Western 
Canadian  Mission. 

Claire  Cross  Olmstead,  born  July  12,  1908. 


Excommunicated  October  4,   1944,  in   Buf- 
falo, Eastern  States  Mission. 

Lois  Virginia  Long  Whitlock,  born  July 
13,  1923.  Excommunicated  in  Thatcher 
Ward,  St.  Joseph  Stake. 

(Continued  on  page  44) 

43 


THE  CHURCH  MOVES  ON 


PRESTON 

FIRST 

WARD 

ACHIEVES 


Top:  Welfare  workers  of  Preston  First  Ward.  Below:  the  crop  of  sugar  beets  which  was  harvested  fay 
the  members  of  the  ward. 

On  October  7,  under  the  direction  of  Bishop  C.  Earl  Goaslind,  the  Church  welfare  project  of  the  Preston 
First  Ward  was  brought  to  a  conclusion  with  the  harvest  of  the  four-and-a-half  acre  sugar  beet  crop  and  a 
ward  social  at  night. 

A  ten-acre  irrigated  farm  was  rented  last  spring.  It  was  already  planted  to  two  acres  of  alfalfa.  The 
remainder  was  planted  to  three  and  one-half  acres  of  Deas  and  four  and  one-half  acres  of  sugar  beets. 

Melchizedek  Priesthood  members  did  the  plowing,  planting,  and  harvesting,  and  the  Aaronic  Priesthood 
members  did  the  thinning  and  the  topping,  and  assisted  with  the  loading.    Stanley  Winn  is  work  director. 


Hawaiian  Conference  Report 

IN  accordance  with  a  letter  sent  to  all 
districts  of  the  Hawaiian  Mission  by 
President  Castle  H.  Murphy,  a  number 
of  the  Saints  of  the  mission  and  all  of 
the  missionaries  laboring  in  the  Islands 
arrived  at  Honolulu  by  Friday,  June 
23,  1944.  We  were  happy  that  even 
during  these  times  of  war,  transporta- 
tion was  afforded  many  of  our  Church 
members. 

A  special  missionary  meeting  was 
held  in  the  tabernacle.  The  plan  of  the 
conference  was  explained  to  all  the 
elders  from  the  outside  islands.  We  had 
been  informed  prior  to  leaving  our  dis- 
tricts that  we  would  be   expected  to 


|:f;.lf;;il,;f: 


speak  in  the  various  meetings.  Twelve 
missionaries  who  were  to  be  released 
were  reminded  that  this  would  be  the 
last  time  that  we  would  be  able  to  ad- 
dress the  fine  people  with  whom  we  had 
been  working  for  the  past  thirty  months. 
One  very  unique  thing  about  this  group 
of  elders  is  that  each  one  has  held  some 
position  of  responsibility  during  his  mis- 
sion here  in  the  Islands. 

A  temple  session  was  held  both  Sat- 
urday morning  and  afternoon  in  which 
the  Saints  and  the  missionaries  enjoyed 
the  wonderful  spirit  of  Elijah.  Among 
the  Hawaiian  members  present  were  a 

HAWAIIAN  CONFERENCE  HELD  AT  HONOLULU 
JUNE  23,  24,  and  25,  1944 


few  from  each  of  the  outlying  districts 
who  will  participate  in  a  temple  excur- 
sion from  their  individual  districts  dur- 
ing the  latter  months  of  this  year.  It  is 
the  custom  that  each  year  every 
district  of  the  mission  journey  to  Laie 
for  temple  work  and  spend  about  ten 
days  at  Laie  living  in  the  Lanihuli  home. 
Last  year  every  island  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  Island  of  Hawaii  was  able 
to  take  part  in  this  excursion.  One  dis- 
trict has  made  this  annual  trek  for  the 
past  eleven  years.  This  year  it  is 
planned  that  each  district  of  the  mission 
will  participate  in  such  an  excursion. 

The  attendance  at  our  morning  meet- 
ing totaled  1085.  Here  in  Hawaii  under 
one  roof  meet  people  of  various  nation- 
alities, whose  membership  is  rep- 
resented in  the  Central  Pacific  Mission, 
the  Hawaiian  Mission,  and  the  Oahu 
Stake. 

The  remainder  of  the  conference  con- 
sisted of  an  afternoon  and  evening  ses- 
sion. Throughout  the  day  various  mis- 
sionaries and  local  leaders  were  called 
upon  to  talk.  Before  the  day  was  over 
we  realized  that  we  had  only  five  elders 
serving  as  missionaries  who  were  from 
the  mainland.  We  are  fortunate  in  hav- 
ing two  local  Japanese  boys  filling  full- 
time  missions  and  during  this  conference 
two  more  Japanese  boys  were  called  to 
fulfill  missions  among  their  people  here 
in  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  It  was  a  time 
of  rejoicing  when  we  were  told  that 
Brother  George  Needham  had  been 
placed  in  charge  of  the  affairs  of  the 
Church  in  the  Hamakua  District  with 
the  duties  of  a  district  president.  At  the 
same  time  announcement  was  made  that 
Brother  William  Sproat  had  been 
placed  in  charge  of  Kohala  district  and 
Brother  E.  K.  Simmons  in  charge  of 
Kona  district.  Each  of  these  brethren 
will  assume  the  duties  of  district  presi- 
dent. 

Monday  morning  all  the  missionaries 
of  both  missions  assembled  at  the  tab- 
nernacle  for  a  testimonial  meeting.  Also 
with  us  were  the  local  district  presidents 
and  the  brethren  called  to  preside  over 
the  Central  Pacific  Mission  work  on  the 
Island  of  Maui.  President  Murphy 
presided  over  this  meeting  which  lasted 
for  nearly  four  hours  and  never  have 
such  humble  and  sincere  testimonies 
been  borne.  We  are  indeed  grateful 
that  we  have  had  the  privilege  of  labor- 
ing among  these  fine  people;  partaking 
of  their  kindness  and  hospitality;  and 
in  turn  teaching  them  the  principles  of 
the  restored  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Tuesday  morning  a  number  of  the 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


THE  CHURCH  MOVES  ON 


young  people  who  had  come  to  Hono- 
lulu from  the  outside  islands  assembled 
at  the  tabernacle  where  transportation 
was  arranged  in  order  that  they  might 
go  to  Laie  to  perform  baptisms  for  the 
dead.  In  this  group  were  members  of 
both  the  Hawaiian  and  the  Central  Pac- 
ific Mission  and  they  were  very  joy- 
ous for  the  events  of  the  day.  This  is 
the  second  time  that  a  group  of  Japanese 
members  of  the  Church  have  been  able 
to  make  arrangements  possible  to  carry 
forth  this  work.  For  most  of  the  young 
people  assembled  today  it  was  their 
first  opportunity  to  be  able  to  partici- 
pate in  this  work.  A  total  of  eighty-two 
baptisms  for  the  women  and  forty  for 
the  men  were  performed.  We  know  that 
this  is  a  realization  for  many  of  these 
young  people  of  the  greatness  of  this 
work.  It  is  a  reward  of  diligent  work 
for  most  of  them  have  affiliated  them- 
selves with  genealogy  classes  held  in 
their  districts. — Reported  by  Elder  Ed- 
ward Barnes. 

Pioneer  Stake  Manual 

Oioneer  Stake  has  recently  published 
a  manual  of  lesson  helps  to  be  used 


by  members  of  their  stake  in  teacher- 
training  programs  and  in  the  actual 
preparation  of  lessons. 

Stake  Presidencies 

President  Leslie  V.  Merrill  and 
counselors  have  been  released  in  the 
Franklin  Stake.  Henry  H.  Rawlings, 
former  first  counselor  was  sustained  as 
stake  president  with  the  former  second 
counselor,  Karl  H.  Cutler,  as  first  coun- 
selor, and  Weldon  A.  Nash  as  second 
counselor. 

President  Charles  S.  Hansen  and 
counselors,  Hans  C.  Olsen  and  Sidney  J. 
Fjelsted,  have  been  released  in  the  Gun- 
nison Stake.  Elmo  S.  Sorensen  was 
sustained  as  president  with  Lester  Han- 
sen and  Luris  Porter  Allen  as  coun- 
selors. 

Branches  Discontinued 

Ctrawberry  Independent  Branch, 
^  Duchesne  Stake,  has  been  discon- 
tinued, and  its  membership  annexed  to 
the  Duchesne  Ward. 


»  m 


MUSIC 


{Concluded  from  page  35) 
play,  mainly  because  all  four  parts  are  un- 
usually active  and  few  notes  are  repeated. 
This   hymn   is   well  worth  a    considerable 
amount  of  practice  time. 

No.  179  in  the  Sunday  School  songbook, 
"True  to  the  Faith,"  by  popular  acclaim 
easily  heads  the  list  of  difficult  hymns.  In 
the  verse  part  we  find  unusually  active  part 
leading.    This  can  be  mastered,   however, 


with  a  little  persistent  practice.  In  the  cho- 
rus we  do  well  to  rearrange  the  first  four 
measures  so  that  the  left  hand  will  be  com- 
pletely free  to  play  the  bass  part  alone, 
which  is  composed  entirely  of  scale  and 
arpeggio  formations.  In  the  first  measure 
use  the  following  fingering  in  the  left  hand: 
12312345.  In  the  third  measure  change  this 
to  .123412345.  It  will  be  found  relatively 
easy  in  the  first  four  measures  of  the  chorus 
to  add  the  tenor  to  the  right  hand. 


THE  PROPHET  JOSEPH  SMITH 


{Continued  Irom  page  15) 
tunity  to  hear  the  name  of  Jesus?"  The 
minister  answered:  "They  are  lost." 
Said  the  student:  "I  will  have  nothing 
to  do  with  a  religion  so  unjust  as  to  con- 
demn to  eternal  punishment  men  and 
women  who  are  just  as  noble  as  we, 
perhaps  nobler,  but  who  never  had  an 
opportunity  to  hear  the  name  of  Jesus." 

One  who  understands  the  truth,  as 
revealed  to  the  Prophet  Joseph  regard- 
ing this  doctrine,  would  have  answered: 
"They  will  have  an  opportunity  to  hear 
the  gospel,  and  to  obey  every  principle 
and  ordinance  by  proxy.  Every  man 
here  or  hereafter  will  be  judged  and  re- 
warded according  to  his  works." 

The  Eternity  of  the  Marriage 
Covenant 

T  will  give  one  more  illustration: 

Marriage  is  an  institution  as  old  as 
the  human  race.  Among  civilized  peo- 
ple it  has  a  legal  status,  and  among  most 
people  it  is  sanctified  by  the  Church. 
Although  there  is  evidence  that  some 
people  have  looked  upon  the  marriage 
ceremony  as  continuing  after  death;  yet, 
generally,  the  ceremony  is  valid  only 

JANUARY,  1945 


"until  death  dost  thou  part."  Joseph 
the  seer,  grasping  the  eternal  nature  of 
love  as  the  divinest  attribute  of  the 
human  soul,  as  an  everlasting  attribute 
of  the  spirit,  revealed  the  eternity  of  the 
marriage  covenant,  a  doctrine  so  beau- 
tiful, so  logical,  so  far-reaching  in  its 
significance  that  if  it  were  adopted  in 
its  entirety,  many  of  the  present  evils 
of  society  might  be  abolished. 

The  Organization  of  the  Church 

Dut  I  think  the  greatest  evidence  of 

Joseph  Smith's  inspiration  is  found 

in  the  organization  of  the  Church  itself. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  nine- 
teenth century;  that  is,  between  the 
years  1805  and  1830,  there  was  ample 
evidence  of  dissatisfaction  among  men 
with  social  and  economic  conditions, 
and  it  is  interesting  to  note  the  efforts 
that  were  put  forth  by  sincere,  able,  in- 
telligent men  to  improve  conditions. 

About  1777,  a  few  years  before  Jo- 
seph Smith's  birth,  there  was  a  man 
born  in  England  by  the  name  of  Robert 
Owen  who  came  of  worthy  parentage. 
He  was  a  man  of  exceptional  ability, 
shown  in  the  fact  that  when  he  was 
only  about  nineteen  years  of  age  he  is 


PABCO 

COOLITE 


Super  -  protection  !  Heat 
rays,  rain  and  wind 
"bounce  right  off"  walls 
and  roofs  painted  with 
this  double-resistant  alu- 
minum paint.  Buildings 
are  cooler  in  hot  weather 
. . .  drier  in  the  rainy  sea- 
son .  .  .  less  expensive  to 
maintain  year  after  year. 

ONEpa«n*doesW° 

PABC0  *■«-*•**•  PMIiT 

S^eU.^ ^  eliininateS  the 

paint  for  every  surface  unj7or«ly 

rough  particles  andu  «        y      ^  brushes 
fine  parties/ Resu^.    P  ^^  better. 
on  smoother  and  easier.- 


THEPARAFFINE  COS.INC. 

SAN.  FRANCISCO    19,    CALIFORNIA 


Lopti-'irV    the 
"YelloW    Pages' 
,'.  for  your    local 

PABCO    dealer. 


45 


z^m: 


^^^^^^^sp. 


ANCHOR  SOIL  DOLLARS 
AT  THE  SURFACE! 


Switching  to  even  one  single  new  sur- 
face tillage  tool  .  .  .  one  new  tillage 
practice  . ,  .  has  helped  save  many  a 
farm  for  a  prosperous  future.  In  a 
single  West  Coast  area,  "clean"- 
tilled  fields  annually  lost  28  tons  of 
top  soil  per  acre  whereas  rough- 
tilled,  trashy-surface  fields  reduced 
the  loss  by  70  per  cent. 

The  kind  of  surface  your  land  ex- 
poses after  tillage  can  make  a  world  of 
difference — whether  irrigated  or  dry- 
land farmed.  Rain  or  irrigation  water 
that  is  not  caught  and  held,  stealthi- 
ly sweeps  precious  top  soil  away. 

DRY  LAND  FARMING 


In  chopping  and  mixing  stubble,  straw  and 
other  crop  trash,  also  moderately  dense  cov- 
er crops,  the  A-C  Model  1 0  Medium  Weight 
Disc  does  effective  work.  Front  gang  chops 
and  turns,  rear  gang  slices  and  mixes. 


Busiest  tool  on  stubble-mulch,  summer- 
fallow  farms.  A-C  Field  Cultivator  under- 
cuts the  weeds,  turns  them  up,  loosens  and 
aerates  soil  without  smoothing  trashy  sur- 
face. Duckfoot  sweeps  and  spring  teeth 
interchangeable. 


Mixing  every  available  shred  of 
crop  trash  and  cover  into  the  soil . . . 
leaving  a  loose,  humus-heavy  surface 
. .  .  shortening  irrigation  furrows  . . . 
farming  on  the  contour. . .  reverting 
steepest  slopes  to  permanent  vege- 
tation— these  are  some  of  the  prac- 
tices acclaimed  by  ranchers  who  have 
watched  income  rise  as  a  result. 

The  modern  Allis-Chalmers  tillage 
implements  shown  here  are  key  tools 
in  this  science  of  anchoring  soil  dol- 
lars. Investigate  the  far-reaching 
advantages  of  their  use  now.  Ask 
your  Allis-Chalmers  dealer. 

IRRIGATED  FARMING 


The  match  for  heavy  cover 

crops    in  heavy  soils  is  the 

rugged  A-C  Brenneis  Model 

H  Offset  Disc  Harrow.  Makes 

possible  uniformly  level 

work,  controlled  surface  mixing. 

250  working  hours  between  lubrications! 


For  moderately  deep  and  thorough  soil 
stirring  and  loosening  without  a  fine  finish, 
the  A-C  Brenneis  Coil  Spring  Shank  Cul- 
tivator is  most  popular.  Works  under  green 
manure  crops.  Shovels,  sweeps,  alfalfa 
teeth,  furrower  head  alternate  equipment. 


PILLIS-CHflLMER 
TRACtO  R      D  I  V  I  S  I  ON        >         ft  I  L  W  A  U  K  E  E     t,     U. 


.    S.    A. 


The  Prophet 
Joseph  Smith 


46 


(Continued  from  page  6) 
reported  to  have  had  two  hundred  men 
under  him  in  his  factories  in  Manches- 
ter. About  this  time  he  became  dis- 
satisfied with  the  churches.  He  was  a 
religious  man,  but  he  decried  the  de- 
parture of  the  churches  from  the  simple 
teachings  of  Jesus.  Economic  condi- 
tions offended  him  also.  He  saw  little 
children,  and  had  some  of  them  working 
in  his  factories  who  were  only  eight  and 
ten  years  of  age.  He  introduced  the  law 
which  required  the  prohibiting  of  little 
children  from  working  at  night,  and 
limiting  others  to  ten  hours  a  day.  That 
gives  you  an  idea  of  conditions  then  and 
of  labor  problems.  His  soul  rebelled 
against  this,  and  he  sought  something 
better. 

He  won  the  confidence  of  leaders  and 
the  Duke  of  Kent  (Queen  Victoria's 
father )  became  Robert  Owen's  patron. 
He  was  desirous  of  establishing  con- 
ditions which  would  at  least  ameliorate 
some  which  were  almost  unbearable  in 
society  at  that  time.  With  a  fortune  in 
his  hand,  he  came  to  the  new  world 
about  1823.  He  purchased  thirty  thou- 
sand acres  of  land  in  what  became  New 
Harmony,  Indiana,  and  established 
what  he  hoped  would  be  an  ideal  so- 
ciety. Within  three  years  he  lost  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  his  ex- 
periment failed.  Please  note  the  date 
of  this  experiment,  his  aspirations,  his 
wealth,  his  popularity  with  influential 
men,  his  acquaintance  with  legislators, 
and  with  royalty. 

The  "Great  Experiment" 

A  few  years  later,  George  Ripley,  a 
"^  Unitarian  minister,  conceived  a  plan 
of  plain  living  and  high  thinking.  He 
had  as  his  associates  such  able  men  as 
Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  Charles  A. 
Dana,  afterwards  assistant  secretary 
of  war  in  the  cabinet  of  the  president 
of  the  United  States,  John  S.  White, 
and  others  equally  able  and  sincere. 

Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  styled  "The 
wisest  American,"  Amos  Bronson  Al- 
cott,  Theodore  Parker,  William  H. 
Channing,  were  interested  visitors,  and 
James  Russell  Lowell  and  Horace 
Greeley  contributed  to  the  community 
paper. 

These  were  able  men,  inspired  by 
high  ideals.  Ripley  and  his  associates 
became  the  founders  of  what  was 
known  as  the  "Great  Experiment,"  the 
purpose  of  which  was  to  make  the  world 
an  agreeable  place  in  which  to  live.  It 
came  to  an  end  in  1846,  and  the  land 
and  buildings  sold  at  auction  April  13, 
1899. 

The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
Organized 

About  1820,  religious  excitement  led 
Joseph  Smith  to  seek  the  right 
Church,  the  proper  mode  of  worship, 
the  right  way  to  live.  The  desire  to 
know  impelled  the  youth  to  seek  the 
Lord  in  earnest  prayer.  One  result  of 
the  answer  to  his  prayer  was  the  or- 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


THE  PROPHET  JOSEPH  SMITH 


ganization    of    the    Church    in    Peter 
Whitmer's  home  on  April  6,  1 830. 

In  that  organization  may  be  found  the 
comprehension  of  the  whole  plan  of 
man's  salvation. 

Joseph  Smith  did  not  have  the  back- 
ing of  any  prominent  men.  He  had  no 
wealth.  He  had  around  him  no  influ- 
ential legislators  nor  men  who  were 
styled  the  wisest  thinkers  of  the  time — 
elements  surrounding  those  others — 
which  would  be  contributing  factors  in 
achieving  success. 

Joseph  Smith  was  very  humble,  fi- 
nancially speaking.  He  was  not 
schooled  in  the  literature  of  the  day. 
He  did  not  have  prominence  in  the  so- 
ciety in  which  he  moved;  he  was  un- 
schooled and  had  only  limited  acquaint- 
ance with  men  and  things. 

The  original  members  of  the  Church 
were  practically  unknown.  They  were 
financially  poor  and  had  no  political  or 
social  standing.  Yet,  for  over  one  hun- 
dred years,  this  organization  has  sur- 
vived financial  panics,  social  upheavals, 
and  religious  turmoil,  and  today  stands 
as  a  means  of  supplying  the  highest 
needs  of  mankind  as  it  conforms  to  the 
best  concepts  of  men  who  understand 
government  and  who  are  seeking  social 
betterment. 

Kirkpatrick,  in  his  book  on  sociology, 

says: 

Efficiency  and  progress  are  favored  when 
the  government  is  such  that  the  local  com- 
munity has  a  good  deal  of  responsibility  for 
its  own  affairs  and  the  central  government 
has  final  authority  to  legalize  those  institu- 
tions and  rules  of  procedure  which  have 
been  shown  to  be  permanently  useful. 

A  careful  analysis  of  the  organization 
of  the  Church  reveals  the  fact  that  it 
imposes  all  the  strength  of  a  strong  cen- 
tral government,  and  every  virtue  and 
necessary  safeguard  of  a  democracy. 

First,  it  has  the  authority  of  the 
priesthood  without  the  vices  of  priest- 
craft. Every  worthy  man  in  the  organ- 
ization is  entitled  to  a  place  and  a  voice 
in  the  governing  quorums. 

Secondly,  it  offers  a  system  of  educa- 
tion universal  and  free  in  its  applica- 
tion; the  safety  valve,  the  very  heart 
and  strength  of  true  democracy.  For 
example,  in  the  quorums  and  auxiliary 
organizations  of  the  Church,  there  are 
roughly  speaking  fifty  thousand  men 
and  women  engaged  in  teaching  chil- 
dren, youth,  and  adults.  Not  one  of 
these  fifty  thousand  receives  a  dollar  in 
monetary  compensation.  Every  week 
lessons  on  the  gospel,  or  on  literature, 
art,  proper  decorum,  etc.,  are  prepared 
and  presented  to  the  half  million  mem- 
bers who  are  invited  to  participate  in 
the  groups  enrolled.  In  addition,  there 
are  seminaries,  institutes,  colleges,  and 
a  university  supported  at  an  annual  ex- 
penditure of  over  a  million  dollars — all 
these  independently  of  the  public  school 
system  heartily  fostered  by  citizens  of 
the  state. 

Thirdly,  it  offers  a  judicial  system 
that  extends  justice  and  equal  privileges 

JANUARY,  1945 


to  all,  applicable  alike  to  the  indigent 
and  to  the  millionaire. 

In  the  ecclesiastical  grouping  of  the 
Church,  efficiency  and  progress  are  en- 
hanced because  every  local  group  at- 
tends to  its  own  affairs,  and,  yet  each  is 
closely  united  with  the  central  govern- 
ment so  that  every  mode  of  procedure 
that  is  proved  to  be  useful  and  benefi- 
cial to  the  people  may  be  adopted  with- 
out delay  for  the  good  of  the  entire 
group. 

Truly,  from  the  standpoint  of  effi- 
ciency and  progress,  the  Church  of 
Christ  has  that  form  of  government 
which  will  best  contribute  to  the  peace 
and  happiness  of  mankind. 

"How  knoweth  this  man  letters,  hav^ 
ing  never  learned?"  questioned  the  Jews 
as  they  marvelled  at  the  wisdom  of 
Jesus.  So  may  we  repeat  the  question 
regarding  Joseph  Smith  as  we  consider 
his  outstanding  accomplishments  dur- 
ing the  brief  span  of  fourteen  years  be- 
tween the  organization  of  the  Church 
and  his  martyrdom;  as  we  contemplate 
the  perfect  harmony  of  the  restored  gos- 
pel with  that  of  the  primitive  church 
established  by  Jesus  and  His  apostles; 
as  we  note  his  penetrating  insight  into 
principles  and  doctrines;  and  as  we  see 
the  incomparable  plan  and  efficiency  of 
the  Church  established  by  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Christ  whose  name  it  bears — 
the  answer  to  the  question,  whence  this 
man's  wisdom?  is  given  in  the  stirring 
stanza: 

Praise  to  the  man  who  communed  with 
Jehovah! 

Jesus  anointed  "that  Prophet  and  Seer" — 
Blessed  to  open  the  last  dispensation; 

Kings  shall  extol  him  and  nations  revere. 

Conclusion 

HPonight  when  darkness  envelops  the 
earth,  each  of  you  will  retire  with 
absolute  confidence  that  the  night  will 
pass  and  that  the  earth  will  be  filled 
again  with  the  light  of  day.  Of  this  you 
have  not  a  shadow  of  doubt. 

This  old  world  is  enveloped  in  the 
darkness  of  bigotry,  intolerance,  dis- 
belief in  God  and  suspicion  of  fellow 
man  resulting  in  ill  will  and  madness. 
For  four  thousand  years  and  more,  the 
human  race  has  groped  in  this  darkness, 
vainly  seeking  a  Light  that  would  dispel 
it.  Blindly  have  they  brought  themselves 
the  evils  of  antagonism,  the  misery  of 
contention,  the  bitterness  of  strife,  and 
the  horrors  of  war. 

As  absolute  as  the  certainty  that  you 
have  in  your  hearts  that  tonight  will  be 
followed  by  dawn  tomorrow  morning, 
so  is  my  assurance  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
the  Savior  of  mankind,  the  Light  that 
will  dispel  the  darkness  of  the  world, 
through  the  gospel  restored  by  direct 
revelation  to  the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith. 

O  living  Christ  who  still 

Dost  all  our  burdens  share, 

Come  now  and  dwell  within  the  hearts 

Of  all  men  everywhere, 

for  this  I  earnestly  pray,  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ.  Amen. 


So  Fresh 
So  Smooth 
So  Good/ 


&URKEES 


NAV0HNA!S| 


*w*«^?$S^ 


DELICIOUS  ON 

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SALAD 


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10  Rooms  tilled  with  the  best  and  most 

colorful  costumes 


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sore  throat  and  other  minor  mouth 
and  throat  irritations. 

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47 


Youngsters  Love  It.' 

Royal  Enriched  Bread  is  a  year  'round  treat  with  young- 
sters—and with  grown-ups,  too.  Every  loaf  is  enriched 
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There  are  many  who  suffer  loss 
Be  prudent — 

Avert  it  by 
INSURANCE 

This  organization  writes  insurance  always  of  the  highest  quality. 

UTAH  HOME  FIRE  INSURANCE  CO, 

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J  Jul  J  hawing 

Jobs,  salaries,  promotions  .  .  . 
All  these  things  depend  on 
what  you  can  do. 

Get  the  right  training — and  enough  of  it  to  qualify  for  the 
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Start  the  New  Year  with  a  day  or  evening  course  in  business 
training. 

L.  D.S.  BUSINESS  COLLEGE 


Mission  Spirit 
Kept  Alive 


(Concluded  Irom  page  24) 
continued  for  so  long  a  time.  In  the  first 
place,  the  members  are  bound  together 
by  a  great  common  interest — a  deep 
love  for  the  gospel  and  a  sincere  desire 
to  strengthen  the  testimonies  they  ac- 
quired in  the  mission  field.  To  do  this, 
they  realize,  requires  constant  effort 
and  a  perpetuation  of  the  mission  spirit. 
Secondly,  they  have  had  with  them  al- 
ways the  guidance  and  wisdom  of  mis- 
sion parents  who  did  not  cease  their 
efforts  when  they  were  released  from 
the  mission  to  which  they  were  called. 
They  have  regarded  their  missionaries 
as  a  permanent  family  and  have  con- 
tinually watched  over  them  devotedly. 
Their  confidence  and  interest  have  kept 
the  missionaries  at  their  best,  inspiring 
them  to  greater  devotion  and  loyalty  to 
their  Church  and  fellow  companions. 

A  third  reason  for  this  group's  suc- 
cess has  been  a  definite  study  plan 
which  they  have  followed.  Elected  of- 
ficers assume  responsibility  for  planning 
a  study  course  and  seeing  that  it  is 
consistently  ready  for  presentation  at 
each  meeting.  Such  subjects  as  the 
Articles  of  Faith,  Church  Presidents, 
L.D.S.  Hymns,  and  Outstanding  Wom- 
en of  the  Church  have  been  treated.  Al- 
though occasional  guest  speakers  have 
been  invited  in,  most  of  the  study  and 
preparation  has  been  made  by  the  class 
members.  Recently  an  entire  evening 
was  turned  over  to  testimony  bearing, 
and  it  equalled  in  spirit  those  remem- 
bered in  the  mission  field.  Several 
servicemen  were  present  and  did  much 
to  stimulate  the  group. 

Just  before  October  conference,  the 


PASTEURIZED  SKIM  MILK 
GIVES  IT  GOODNESS 

®u£i$€0 

^  0lE0MARGARI« 


\.  :-. 


48 


THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


MISSION  SPIRIT  KEPT  ALIVE 


accompanying  picture  was  taken.  For- 
ty-two members  were  present  to  hear 
their  mission  mother  present  the  lesson. 
This  attendance  is  typical  of  the  support 
the  officers  have  been  receiving  for  the 
last  four  years,  and  the  support  which 
will  probably  continue  for  many  years 
to   come.    Associations  such   as  these 


serve  to  remind  the  members  that  they 
are  never  released  from  the  call  to  learn, 
live,  and  teach  the  gospel.  A  mission 
experience  is  only  the  beginning  of  what 
can  lie  ahead  if  returned  missionaries 
will  make  the  effort  to  keep  alive  and 
strengthen  the  testimonies  with  which 
the  Lord  has  blessed  them. 


♦  i 


SOME  EXPERIENCES  WITH  GENERAL  VILLA 


( Concluded  from  page  23 ) 
have  been  in  their  colonies  many  times;  they 
are  a  good  and  peaceful  people.  It  is  all 
right  for  them  to  do  what  they  are  doing, 
but  this  is  no  time  to  be  doing  missionary 
work.  They  should  go  home  where  they  will 
not  be  in  any  danger.  Nobody  knows  what 
might  happen  to  them  around  here  during 
times  like  this."3 

President  Bentley  finally  had  an  op- 
portunity to  talk  with  Villa  and  learned 
that  he  had  once  lived  with  a  Mormon 
family  in  Sonora  and  had  heard  a  great 
deal  about  the  gospel.  Villa  said : 

Many  times  I  might  have  entirely  cleaned 
up  on  all  of  your  Mormons,  and  destroyed 
the  colonies,  but  I  have  never  had  any  desire 
at  all  to  do  you  any  harm.  I  would  like  to 
help  you,  and  I  will  help  you  all  that  I  can, 
but  during  times  of  trouble  there  is  no  guar- 
antee of  safety.  You  gentlemen  should  re- 
turn to  your  homes  and  stay  there  until  we 
get  these  things  settled.  Then  will  be  the 
time  for  you  to  do  the  thing  that  you  are 
doing  now." 

The  general  gave  the  brethren  a  pass 
through  his  lines  and  directed  his  men 
to  render  all  assistance  possible  to  the 
Mormons.  He  stated  that  he  felt  hard 
toward  the  United  States  for  permitting 
the  Carranza  forces  to  pass  through 
U.S.  territory  in  1915  in  order  to  sur- 
prise and  defeat  him  at  Agua  Prieta. 
But  he  added: 

I  like  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  and  I  like  the  people  who  live  there. 
If  any  foreign  enemy  should  try  to  invade 
the  United  States,  I  would  be  ready  to  de- 
fend her  from  such.  We  do  not  want  any 
foreign  power  to  come  on  to  this  American 
continent.    I   hope   to  see   the   time  when 

"Joseph  F.  Moffett,  "An  Incident  with  General 
Francisco  Villa,"  an  unpublished  manuscript  based  on 
the  account  related  to  the  writer  by  James  E.  Whet- 
ten,  p.  7.        , 

*Ibid.,  pp.  7-8 


these  two  countries  will  be  at  continual 
peace  one  with  the  other,  and  when  we  get 
this  affair  settled,  I  would  like  to  see  the 
influence  of  Mormon  communities  in  every 
part  of  this  republic.4 

When  the  mules  were  harnessed  and 
hitched  to  the  buggy,  the  three  brethren 
went  to  take  their  leave  of  Generals 
Angeles  and  Villa.  After  the  usual  polite 
expressions  were  exchanged,  the  latter 
turned  to  President  Bentley  and  said: 

"I  want  you  to  give  my  regards  and  best 
wishes  to  all  of  the  Mormon  people  and  tell 
them  that  they  can  expect  to  have  as  much 
help  and  protection  from  me  and  my  men 
as  it  is  possible  for  me  to  give  them  in  these 
times  of  trouble.  They  have  been  my  friends, 
and  I  want  them  to  feel  that  I  am  their 
friend." 

He  asked  Elder  Whetten  if  all  of  his  out- 
fit was  all  right,  and  if  anything  was  lack- 
ing, or  if  anything  had  been  bothered  in  any 
way.  He  said  that  he  wanted  to  be  sure 
that  they  were  going  on  their  way  with  all 
that  they  had  had  before.  He  inquired  espe- 
cially about  the  mules,  and  if  they  were  the 
same  ones." 

With  their  departure  from  Villa's 
camp,  the  adventures  of  the  three  breth- 
ren were  not  yet  over.  As  they  ap- 
proached the  nearly  deserted  town  of 
Namiquipa,  they  were  seized  by  a  group 
of  Rurales,  who  mistook  them  for 
American  spies.  Here  they  were  held 
prisoners  for  nine  days  before  they 
succeeded  in  convincing  their  captors 
of  the  peacefulness  of  their  mission. 
Eventually,  however,  the  brethren  were 
given  a  pass  from  the  commander  of 
the  Rurales  and  set  out  on  their  return 
journey,  taking  with  them  Elders  Pleas- 
ant S.  Williams  and  George  Sloan  who 
had  been  laboring  in  Namiquipa. 

Hbid.,   pp.  8-9 
*>Ibid..  p.  9 


♦  ■ 


THE  HARDSCRABBLE  GRIZZLIES 


{Continued  from  page  20) 
long  enough  to  see  the  two  bears  on  top 
of  his  companion.   The  yell  became  a 
sickening  moan;  and  then  as  he  sped  on 
he  could  hear  no  more. 


W, 


holly  unstrung  and  un- 
armed, Wilson  did  not  cease  running 
until  he  reached  one  of  the  horses  on  a 
hillside  above  the  sheep.  From  this 
vantage  point  he  caught  sight  of  the 
larger  grizzly  beating,  clawing  and  bit- 
ing the  herder,  who  appeared  limp  and 
dead,  and  the  she-bear  first  shambling 
distractedly  to  her  wailing  cub  and  then 
back  towards  the  stricken  man.  This  he 

JANUARY.  1945 


caught  at  several  glances,  for  with  all 
speed  he  was  taking  the  hobble  from 
the  horse's  feet  and  preparing  to  escape. 
With  the  hobble  rope  for  a  bridle  he 
quickly  mounted  and  was  just  on  the 
point  of  fleeing  when  the  big  grizzly 
espied  him,  and  charged.  One  thing 
saved  him;  the  horse  caught  sight  of 
the  oncoming  grizzly;  and  if  there  is 
anything  that  a  horse  fears  it  is  a  bear.  It 
lunged  frantically;  over  bushes,  over 
rocks,  down  slides,  through  a  grove  of 
quaking  aspens,  wildly  it  scampered 
down  the  canyon.  There  was  no  need 
to  urge;  and  in  fact  it  was  all  that  the 
(Continued  on  page  50) 


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THE  HARDSCRABBLE  GRIZZLIES 


(Continued  /rom  page  49) 
the    animal's   back  by   clinging  to   its 
mane. 

A  mile  or  more  was  covered  before 
the  excited  horse  slowed  to  a  trot,  and 
even  then  it  was  with  many  a  snort. 
Finally  it  stopped,  looked  back  and 
listened,  just  as  a  human  being  would 
be  apt  to  do  under  such  circumstances. 
Apparently  satisfied,  it  seemed  for  the 
first  time  to  become  conscious  of  its 
rider's  presence,  for  it  turned  one  ear 
back  and  responded  to  Wilson's  com- 
mand to  continue. 

Almost  overcome  with  fear  and  grief, 
convinced  that  Leavitt  was  dead  and 
that,  unarmed,  he  himself  was  helpless 
anyhow,  he  decided  to  rush  with  the  sad 
news  down  to  the  little  village  of  Port- 
erville. 

It  was  nearly  midnight  when  he 
reached  the  settlement;  but  soon  a  few 
inhabitants  of  the  community  were  as- 
sembled about  him,  listening  to  his  tale 
of  horror  and  sadness.  Among  his  lis- 
teners was  one  who  had  only  that  day 
arrived — John  Burton. 

"Are  you  sure  he  is  dead?"  inquired 
an  old  mountaineer.  "Many  a  man  has 
been  mauled  by  a  bear  and  has  lived  to 
tell  the  story.' 

"Not  certain,"  replied  Wilson,  "but 
the  big  grizzly  was  surely  tossing  him 
around  enough  to  kill  him." 

There  was  some  discussion  concern- 
ing the  advisability  of  going  up  the 
mountain  before  daylight,  when  to  the 
amazement  of  all  John  Burton  said 
quietly: 

"Gentlemen,  I'm  not  wanting  to  pre- 
sume, you  understand,  but  I  have  a  good 
rifle  here,  and  if  it  wouldn't  be  asking 
you  too  much  for  a  horse,  I'll  go  right 
now." 

"A  she-grizzly  with  a  cub  is  a  devil," 
cautioned  one.  But  when  it  was  appar- 
ent that  he  was  determined  not  to  wait, 
a  horse  was  provided,  and  he  rode  into 
the  darkness  on  the  rash  and  perilous 
undertaking. 


1  raveling  up  a  mountain 
alone  after  dark  was  no  new  experience 
for  Burton;  in  fact,  being  a  sheep-owner 
himself,  it  was  his  custom  when  visiting 
his  own  herd,  to  walk  alone  and  un- 
armed after  dark  up  the  canyons  of  the 
Wasatch.  On  several  occasions,  at  such 
times,  he  had  come  suddenly  face  to 
face  with  a  bear,  always,  however,  with 
a  resultant  "woof!"  and  quick  departure 
of  the  animal.  Strange  to  say,  the  only 
animal  he  really  feared  was  a  female 
wolverine  with  her  cub — a  result  of  an 
experience  that  is  another  story.  If  any- 
one had  asked  him  why  he  consented  to 
go  up  Hardscrabble  on  this  thrilling  ad- 
venture he  would  have  replied  merely 
that  there  was  a  possibility  of  saving  the 
life  of  a  fellow  mountaineer.  He  ap- 
preciated the  danger;  he  knew  that,  the 
cub  being  wounded,  the  she-bear  would 
still  be  on  hand  either  caressing  its  dead 
body  or  trying  with  soft  sounds  to  quiet 
its  whines.  He  imagined  also  the  mood 
she  would  be  in,  that  she  would  with- 


out provocation  charge  unexpectedly 
and  furiously  upon  anything  that  even 
resembled  an  enemy.  In  fact,  probably 
the  most  dangerous  animal  in  the  world 
is  a  she-grizzly  with  a  wounded  cub; 
for  not  only  is  her  courage  unlimited 
but  also  the  peculiar  conformation  of 
her  skull  makes  a  fatal  wound  most  dif- 
ficult to  place.  A  shot  through  the  heart, 
at  a  time  when  every  second  counts,  is 
usually  ineffective,  for  a  grizzly  will 
often  fight  for  five  or  ten  minutes  after 
its  heart  is  bullet-torn. 

He  carried  a  repeating  rifle  of  30-30 
calibre,  one  that  he  had  used  for  several 
years  and  had  never  known  to  fail  him. 
Slowly  he  trudged  up  the  canyon,  real- 
izing that  he  must  not  arrive  on  the 
scene  before  daylight.  The  horse  ap- 
parently knew  the  way  well;  and,  the 
canyon  being  narrow,  there  was  of 
course  only  one  trail,  which  crossed  and 
recrossed  the  noisy  creek,  and  pene- 
trated groves  of  willows,  quaking 
aspens,  alders  and  narrow-leaved  cot- 
tonwoods.  Often  he  was  compelled  to 
bend  low  with  his  head  pressed  against 
the  horse's  neck  in  order  to  avoid  over- 
hanging limbs  and  whipping  branches. 

When  about  half  way  up  the  moun- 
tain, he  noticed  some  big  dark  object 
in  motion  a  few  yards  up  the  trail.  He 
checked  rein  instantly;  but  his  horse  was 
not  frightened.  He  hesitated,  his  horse 
whinnied,  and  to  his  great  relief  the  ob- 
ject whinnied  in  reply.  It  was  one  of 
the  other  horses,  ambling  down  the  path 
as  well  as  it  could  with  hobbles  on.  He 
released  it  and  led  it  behind  him  up  the 
canyon. 

JT  in  ally  the  grays  of  dawn 
appeared,  lengthening  his  vision  along 
the  creek;  then  trees  began  to  take  def- 
inite shape,  and  a  disturbed  magpie  flew 
with  a  loud  cry  from  a  grove  of  cotton- 
woods.  A  long-crested  jay  rasped  its 
loud  call  from  the  oak  copses  of  the 
hillside;  and  from  the  mountains  above 
him  came  the  faint  bleat  of  the  sheep 
herd. 

After  daylight  he  rode  more  rapidly 
for  a  time;  and  then,  as  the  bells  of  the 
sheep  became  very  distinct,  he  pro- 
ceeded slowly  and  held  his  rifle  con- 
stantly in  readiness.  When  he  arrived 
in  sight  of  the  sheep,  which  were  begin- 
ning to  trail  up  the  canyon  side,  he  dis- 
mounted and  led  his  horses,  knowing 
that  a  skittish  horse  is  a  very  uncertain 
quantity  before  a  grizzly.  At  last,  how- 
ever, he  tied  the  horses  to  a  pine  tree 
and  proceeded  alone.  He  was  not  very 
particular  about  making  a  noise  with 
his  feet,  for  he  knew  the  bears,  if  present, 
would  fight;  and  he  even  preferred  giv- 
ing them  some  warning  to  coming  on 
them  unexpectedly  and  too  close  for 
effective  work  with  the  rifle.  A  wounded 
buffalo  in  Africa  has  the  habit  of  hiding 
beside  its  own  trail  to  wait  its  pursuer, 
and  of  charging  most  suddenly  as  he 
passes  by;  but  the  grizzly  does  not  ordi- 
narily resort  to  such  strategy.  It  hides 
sometimes  for  the  purpose  of  evasion 
but  not  for  aggression. 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


The  Hardscrabble 
Grizzlies 

Burton's  heart  beat  fast  as  he  dis- 
covered the  tent,  which  was  torn  down; 
he  did  not  approach  it  at  once  but  on 
the  contrary  stood  for  several  minutes 
surveying  the  clearing,  listening,  and 
gazing  into  the  bushes  and  balsams. 
Nothing  attracting  his  attention,  he 
walked  slowly  to  the  camp,  which  a 
mere  glance  proved  had  been  strewn 
about  by  the  angry  bears.  The  thing  that 
struck  him  with  horror,  however,  was 
the  sight  of  pieces  of  Leavitt's  body 
scattered  about  the  clearing  several 
yards  up  the  ravine. 

He  took  quick  glances  at  the  horrid 
mess  as  he  walked  towards  it;  but  his 
alert  eyes  were  for  the  most  part  on 
the  bushes  and  trees.  With  his  gun  in 
readiness  he  waited  and  listened,  then 
moved  towards  the  serviceberry  bushes. 
Nothing  occurred,  so  he  threw  a  stone 
into  them  without  effect;  finally  he 
walked  by  them. 

riE  was  about  to  believe 
that  the  cub  could  not  have  been 
wounded  after  all,  and  that  the  bears 
had  strolled  away,  when  he  heard  the 
breathy  "woof!"  of  an  angry  grizzly 
rushing  from  behind  a  thick  balsam 
about  fifty  yards  up  the  trail.  It  charged 
towards  him  with  incredible  speed,  the 
hair  of  its  back  standing  up  with  fury. 
Quickly  but  carefully  he  shot.  It  rolled 
over,  bit  at  its  breast  and  rushed  on 
again.  A  second  shot  did  not  stop  it  at 
all,  and  the  lumbering,  angry  brute  was 
within  a  few  feet  of  him  when  the  third 
shot  hit  it  squarely  beside  the  left  eye. 
It  stumbled,  but  so  great  was  its  momen- 
tum that  it  rolled  directly  towards  him, 
compelling  him  to  dart  aside  as  it  rushed 
by.  It  lay  gasping  and  kicking,  and  he 
cast  a  glance  first  towards  it  and  then 
up  the  trail.  The  dying  bear  tried  to 
arise;  in  fact  it  did  get  up  on  to  its 
haunches  and  tear  at  a  group  of  service- 
berry  limbs  with  its  teeth,  breaking  them 
off  and  pulling  them  out  as  if  they  were 
straws.  Burton  was  aiming  at  it  to  give 
it  a  finishing  charge  when  the  inex- 
plicable sixth  sense  that  we  all  at  times 
seem  to  possess  caused  him  to  glimpse 
up  the  canyon.  There  she  was,  the  she- 
grizzly,  charging  down  upon  him  ex- 
actly as  the  other  had  done,  with  the 
exception  that  one  of  her  front  legs 
dangled  helplessly.  In  spite  of  that  she 
was  making  fearful  speed  and  was  only 
about  twenty-five  yards  from  him. 
Aiming  at  her  swaying  head  he  fired,  but 
only  for  an  instant  did  it  cause  her  to 
hesitate.  She  sniffed  loudly,  bit  at  her 
shoulder  and  again  lunged  at  him.  Just 
before  she  reached  him  she  arose  on 
her  hind  feet,  and  her  great  jaws  opened. 
As  she  towered  above  him  he  fired  di- 
rectly into  her  mouth  and  then  darted 
to  the  right.  He  was  too  late,  however, 
for  the  swipe  of  her  forepaw  caught  his 
rifle  and  sent  it  spinning  over  into  the 
rocks  of  the  creek  bottom.  Then  she 
lunged  forward  and  fell  over  dead. 

(Concluded  on  page  52) 

JANUARY,  1945 


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It's  the  Friendly  Way 


Little  acts  of  helpfulness  built  Grey- 
hound Lines'  pre-war  reputation  for 
travel  that's  friendly  and  pleasant. 
Even  today,  with  a  wartime  shortage 
of  buses,  manpower — and  tempers — 
Overland  Greyhound  is  trying  to 
make  travel  easier  for  those  who 
must  travel. 

Until  Victory,  we're  giving  you 
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INTERSTATE  TRANSIT  LINES 


THE  HARDSCRABBLE  GRIZZLIES 


(Concluded  from  page  51) 
Burton  scrambled  for  his  gun,  and 
when  he  had  recovered  it  the  big  bear 
was  still  biting  mouthfuls  of  service- 
berry  limbs,  frothing  at  the  mouth  and 
tearing  around  aimlessly.  A  shot  behind 
the  ear  put  an  end  to  its  aimless  strug- 
gles. 

IT  or  a  time  he  rested  as  if  half 
expecting  some  other  attack  from  other 
grizzlies,  but  he  was  really  listening  and 
waiting  for  the  cub,  which,  however,  did 
not  appear.  He  examined  the  big  bear, 
finding  that  one  bullet  had  entered  its 
chest,  another  its  brain.  The  she-bear 
had  been  hit  in  the  left  shoulder  by  his 
first  shot  and  in  the  roof  of  her  mouth 
by  the  second,  which  tore  away  the 
back  of  her  head.  Probably  no  other 
part  of  her  body  except  the  neck  could 
have  been  struck  with  such  instanta- 
neous result.   Her  leg  had  been  broken 


by  Leavitt's  rifle  shot,  the  night  before. 
It  required  only  a  few  minutes  to  find 
the  cub,  which,  shot  through  the  body, 
lay  dead  in  the  balsam  grove  up  the 
canyon. 

Using  the  tent  as  a  sack  he  carefully 
wrapped  Leavitt's  mangled  remains,  the 
very  sight  of  which  made  him  shudder. 
When  that  was  accomplished  he  pro- 
ceded  to  skin  the  bears.  This  required 
a  long  time  for  one  even  as  expert  as 
he;  but  at  last  the  three  rolled  pelts 
were  ready  for  loading  onto  the  horses. 
So  frightened  were  these  animals  at  the 
sight  and  smell  of  the  bears,  that  he  had 
to  blindfold  them  both;  and  even  then 
there  was  much  snorting,  shying  and 
bucking  before  he  finally  made  the  bur- 
dens secure  on  the  pack  saddles.  Slowly 
then  he  led  the  way  down  the  canyon. 

To  this  day  some  recall  the  adventure 
of  the  Hardscrabble  grizzlies. 


•  <» » 


MAN'S  ETERNAL  BELIEF  IN  IMMORTALITY 


(Concluded  from  page  19) 
Ye   seek    Jesus    of    Nazareth,    which    was 
crucified:   he  is  risen;  he  is  not  here:   behold 
the  place  where  they  laid  him. 

But  go  your  way,  tell  his  disciples  and 
Peter  that  he  goeth  before  you  into  Galilee: 
there  shall  ye  see  him,  as  he  said  unto  you. 

And  they  went  out  quickly,  and  fled  from 
the  sepulchre;  for  they  trembled  and  were 
amazed:  neither  said  they  any  thing  to  any 
man;   for  they  were  afraid. 

Now  when  Jesus  was  risen  early  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  he  appeared  first  to  Mary 
Magdalene,  out  of  whom  he  had  cast  seven 
devils. 

And  she  went  and  told  them  that  had 
been  with  him,  as  they  mourned  and  wept. 

And  they,  when  they  had  heard  that  he 
was  alive,  and  had  been  seen  of  her,  be- 
lieved not. 

After  that  he  appeared  in  another  form 
unto  two  of  them,  as  they  walked,  and  went 
into  the  country. 

And  they  went  and  told  it  unto  the  resi- 
due:   neither  believed  they  them. 


Afterward  he  appeared  unto  the  eleven 
as  they  sat  at  meat,  and  upbraided  them 
with  their  unbelief  and  hardness  of  heart, 
because  they  believed  not  them  which  had 
seen  him  after  he  was  risen. 

And  he  said  unto  them,  Go  ye  into  all  the 
world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture. 

He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be 
saved;  but  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be 
damned. 

And  these  signs  shall  follow  them  that  be- 
lieve; In  my  name  shall  they  cast  out  devils; 
they  shall  speak  with  new  tongues; 

They  shall  take  up  serpents;  and  if  they 
drink  any  deadly  thing,  it  shall  not  hurt 
them;  they  shall  lay  hands  on  the  sick,  and 
they  shall  recover. 

So  then  after  the  Lord  had  spoken  unto 
them,  he  was  received  up  into  heaven,  and 
sat  on  the  right  hand  of  God. 

And  they  went  forth,  and  preached  every 
where,  the  Lord  working  with  them,  and 
confirming  the  word  with  signs  following. 
Amen. 

(Mark  16.) 


"BEHOLD  THE  LAMB  OF  GOD" 


(Continued  from  page  13) 
presently  give  me  more  than  twelve 
legions  of  angels"32;  we  remember  that 
in  the  last  discourse  in  the  chamber  of 
the  Last  Supper,  He  declared,  answer- 
ing Philip's  question,  the  oneness  of  the 
Father  and  Himself33;  and  that  to  the 
disciples  disputing  among  themselves 
who  should  be  greatest,  He  declared: 
"For  the  Son  of  man  is  come  to  save 
that  which  was  lost."34 

So  do  we  ever  hold  clear  in  our 
memories  the  words  between  Jesus  and 
Peter  in  the  coasts  of  Caesarea  Philip- 
pi:  "But  whom  say  ye  that  I  am?  And 
Simon  Peter  answered  and  said,  Thou 
art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living 
God.    And   Jesus   answered    and   said 

=2Matt.  26:53 
ssjohn  14:8  ff. 
"Matt.  18:11 


52 


unto  him,  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Bar- 
jona:  for  flesh  and  blood  hath  not  re- 
vealed it  unto  thee,  but  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven."85  Also  do  we  ever 
remember  that  rarely  beautiful  scene 
between  Martha  and  Jesus,  returned  to 
Bethany  to  raise  Lazarus  from  the  dead: 
"...  I  am  the  resurrection,  and  the 
life:  he  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he 
were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live:  And  who- 
soever liveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall 
never  die.  Believest  thou  this?  She 
saith  unto  him,  Yea,  Lord:  I  believe 
that  thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God, 
which  should  come  into  the  world."88 

\JlJe  cherish  up  all  these  mighty  things 

""    in  our  hearts,  these  witnesses  and 

(Continued  on  page  54) 

sBMatt.   16:15  ff. 
*>John   11:25  ff. 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 


IN  THE  FIEL 


ROOMY  PLATFORM— 
Located  well  forward  — 
enables  you  to  operate  a 
John  Deere  while  stand- 
ing   up    or   sitting   down. 


■HAND  CLUTCH  —Oper- 
ated from  a  sitting  or 
standing  position  or  from 
•the  ground.  An  important 
safety  and  convenience 
feature. 


HYDRAULIC  POWER 
LIFT — A  time-and-mus- 
cle-  saver  developed  and 
^pioneered  by  John   Deere. 


UNEXCELLED  VISION — 
High,  centered  seat  lo- 
cation,     combined      with 

marrow,  tapered  hood, 
gives  you  an  unobstructed 

>view  of  your  work. 


'T^WENTY   years   ago   the  first   John  Deere 

•*■    Tractor  was  purchased  by  a  Waterloo, 

Iowa,  iarmer.     Today  there  are  hundreds  of 

thousands  of  John  Deere  Tractors  on  farms. 

Down  through  the  years,  thousands  of 
owners  have  purchased  their  second,  third, 
and  fourth  John  Deeres.  Thousands  who  op- 
erate larger  farms  have  two,  three,  or  more 
John  Deere  Tractors  which  are  furnishing  eco- 
nomical and  dependable  power. 

That  first  John  Deere  Model  "D"  had  only 
two  cylinders.  Every  John  Deere  Tractor  to- 
day, likewise,  has  only  two  cylinders.  Two- 
cylinder   engine    design   is  one    big   reason 

for  their  popularity. 

It  wasn't  the  green  and  yellow  paint — it 
was  the  advantages  that  lay  underneath 
that  affected  farmers'  decisions.  The  sim- 
plicity of  design  .  .  .  the  rugged  construction 
that  assures  long  life  and  dependability  .  .  . 
accessibility  of  every  working  part  .  .  .  the 
ease  of  handling  .  .  .  plus  economy  of  opera- 


tion and  low  cost  of  maintenance  which  is 
money  in  the  bank — all  the  result  of  two- 
cylinder  engine  design. 

Twenty  years  of  building  John  Deere  Trac- 
tors have  seen  many  advancements  in  manu- 
facturing methods  ...  in  the  use  of  new 
alloys  ...  in  protective  safeguards  for  trac- 
tor and  operation.  Today's  modern  line  of 
John  Deere  Tractors  has  starter  and  lights, 
hydraulic  lift,  multiple  speed,  plus  a  full  line 
of  tractor-mounted  equipment  for  every  kind 
of  row  crop.  Added  together,  this  spells 
EXTRA  TRACTOR  VALUE. 

In  the  John  Deere  Tractor  line  of  today 
there  is  a  power  size  and  type  that  fits  your 
farm  needs.  There  are  seven  power  sizes 
built  in  twenty  different  types. 

John  Deere  two-cylinder  tractors  are  be- 
ing turned  out  as  fast  as  humanly  possible 
within  the  limits  of  government  restriction. 
Still  there  are  not  enough  to  go  around. 
However,  talk  to  your  John  Deere  dealer.  He 
may  find  a  way  to  help  you. 


J®MFI    HE ERE,    Moline,  Illinois 


Model   "A" 

2-3-plow 

size.    Seven 

types 


Model  "B" 
2-plow  size. 
Seven  types. 


Model  "GM" 
r    3  plow  size. 


Model  "H" 

1-2-plow 

size.      Two 

types. 


Model   "D" 

3-4-pIow 

size. 


Models  "L" 
and  "LA." 
1-  and  In- 
fractors not 
shown. 


JANUARY,  1945 


53 


Saying 

Merry  Christmas 

to  40,860  Children 

TN  every  community,  there  cd- 
ways  are  many  under-priv- 
ileged children  to  whom  Santa 
Claus  and  a  Merry  Christmas 
are  bleak  unrealities.  Fifteen 
years  ago,  the  Salt  Lake  Trib- 
une created  a  program  to  see 
that  children  of  no  family  in 
Salt  Lake  City  would  go  with- 
out a  Christmas  remem- 
brance. 

Appealing  to  the  people  of 
the  community  to  bring  Christ- 
mas to  the  underprivileged, 
the  "Sub  for  Santa"  was  born. 
Through  the  generous  assist- 
ance of  its  readers,  the  cheer 
of  Christmas  Day  since  has 
been  extended  to  40,860  chil- 
dren. To  them  the  myth  of 
Santa  Claus  has  become  a 
reality  ...  in  their  hearts  is  the 
true  joy  of  the  Christmastide. 
This  exclusive  service  is  an- 
other indication  of  the  Salt 
Lake  Tribune's  recognition  of 
its  trust  to  the  people  it  serves, 
a  trust  that  goes  beyond  the 
publication  of  the  West's  fin- 
est family  newspaper. 


<; 


1 


%x^ 


y 


w 


BEHOLD  THE  LAMB  OF  GOD" 


54 


■«i 


{ Continued  from  page  52 ) 
these  testimonies.  They  are  the  light 
that  guides  our  feet  through  these  dark 
days  that  afflict  us;  they  are  our  cheer 
and  our  comfort  in  our  sleepless  nights 
filled  with  anxieties  over  our  loved  ones 
on  the  battle  fronts;  they  give  us  the 
hope  and  the  faith  to  go  daily  to  our 
tasks,  never  despairing  amidst  all  this 
woe,  misery,  and  death;  they  spell  our 
happiness  and  salvation  in  the  life  to 
come. 

Every  Christian  remembers  that  as 
Christ  and  his  disciples  left  the  temple 
for  the  last  time  and  went  and  sat  on 
the  Mount  of  Olives  in  the  evening  of 
the  third  day  of  the  week,  his  disciples, 
recalling  his  lament  over  Jerusalem,  and 
his  teachings  that  he  should  come  again, 
asked  him  privately,  "Tell  us,  when 
shall  these  things  be?  and  what  shall  be 
the  sign  of  thy  coming,  and  of  the  end 
of  the  world?" 

Jesus,  answering,  broke  forth  in  a 
mighty  prophecy  that  visioned  in  a  few 
bold  phrases,  the  signs  of  his  coming  at 
a  later  day.  He  spoke  of  plagues  and 
earthquakes,  of  wars  among  the  nations 
and  of  disturbances  in  the  heavens,  of 
persecutions  of  the  Saints,  of  false 
prophets,  of  betrayers,  of  false  Christs, 
of  deceivers,87  those  of  whom  John  later 
declared  "confess  not  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  come  in  the  flesh,"  and  that  such  a  one 
"is  a  deceiver  and  an  antichrist."™ 

Speaking  of  this  same  time  an  ancient 
prophet  of  this  hemisphere  said  the  day 
would  come  when  men  "lifted  up  in  the 
pride  of  their  eyes"  would  "put  down 
the  power  and  miracles  of  God,  and 
preach  up  unto  themselves  their  own 
wisdom  and  their  own  learning," — in- 
iquities of  which  Satan  was  the  founda- 
tion.38 

Tn  these  days  when  antichrists  are 
abroad,  just  as  Jesus  foretold  nearly 
two  thousand  years  ago,  denying  Jesus, 
his  Sonship  and  Messiahship,  belittling 
things  of  the  spirit  and  magnifying  all 
the  pleasures  of  the  flesh,  it  is  fitting  that 
we  who  accept  the  gospel  of  Christ 
should  declare  our  testimonies  of  the 
truth,  for  as  he  said:  ".  .  .  ye  shall 
know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make 
you  free."40  We  should  fail  in  our  duty, 
be  recreant  to  our  trust,  did  we  do  less 
than  this. 

"We  do  not  deny  the  Christ,  we  accept 
and  proclaim  him  as  the  Son  of  God,  the 
Redeemer  of  the  World,  the  First 
Fruits  of  the  Resurrection. 

We  do  not  deny  the  miraculous  con- 
ception; we  accept  the  virgin  birth  with 
all  that  this  fact  connotes  and  implies. 

We  do  not  deny  His  divinity;  we  ac- 
cept it.  He  is  the  Only  Begotten  of  the 
Father.  He  is  the  Word;  He  was  with 
God  "in  the  beginning,"  having  the 
glory  of  the  Father. 

37Matt.  24;   Mark  13;  Luke  21:5-36;  I  John  2:18  ff.; 
4:3 

ssll  John  7 

3BII  Nephi  26:20  ff. 

iojohn   8:32 


We  do  not  deny  he  was  the  "Lamb 
of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world,"  "slain  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world,"  foreordained  to  his  mis- 
sion before  the  world  was.  We  declare 
in  all  soberness  first,  that  the  fall  of 
Adam  brought  the  separation  of  man 
from  the  presence  of  God,  a  spiritual 
death;  and  next  that  it  brought  both 
mortality  and  mortal  death.  We  declare 
that  man  may  in  himself  overcome  the 
spiritual  death  by  so  living  and  observ- 
ing the  commandments  of  God  that  he 
may  ultimately  again  stand  and  live  in 
the  presence  of  God.  This  is  given  to 
man  to  do,  through  the  exercise  of  his 
free  agency,  also  a  gift  of  God.  Our 
Heavenly  Father  has  from  the  first  given 
man  sufficient  truth  to  enable  him  to  do 
this.  But  to  overcome  the  effects  of 
mortality  and  mortal  death,  it  was  nec- 
essary that  an  atonement  should  be 
made  for  the  failure  of  Adam,  exer- 
cising his  free  agency,  to  observe  the 
commandment  that  God  gave.  So  Christ 
came  to  earth.*1  But  "Adam  fell  that 
men  might  be;  and  men  are,  that  they 
might  have  joy."42  Thus  the  Only  Be- 
gotten of  the  Father  came  to  earth,  to 
make  atonement  for  Adam.  For  again, 
as  Paul  declared,  "As  in  Adam  all  die, 
even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made 
alive."48 

We  do  not  deny  His  resurrection;  we 
proclaim  it,  in  its  most  literal  sense. 
We  declare  that  Christ  took  up  the 
very  body  He  laid  down.  And  that 
through  His  death  and  resurrection,  He 
opened  the  graves  of  all  God's  children, 
who  in  due  time  will  all  be  resurrected, 
— the  good  and  the  bad,  who  thereafter 
will  stand  before  the  final  judgment  seat 
to  receive  whatever  reward  is  due  them 
for  the  lives  they  have  led. 

We  do  not  deny  the  miraculous  in 
Christ's  life;  we  accept  it  as  the  most 
natural  manifestation  of  the  power  and 
authority  of  the  Son  of  God,  whether 
the  miracles  be  of  healings  or  those 
sometimes  called  "nature  miracles,"44 
which  to  us  testify  directly  of  His  crea- 
tive power. 

We  do  not  deny,  we  accept  each  and 
every  of  the  doctrines  and  teach- 
ings of  Christ,  as  they  were  pronounced 
by  him.  We  declare  they  contain  a  full 
and  complete  plan  of  life  and  salvation 
and  that  exaltation  in  God's  presence 
will  come  to  all  those  who  shape  their 
lives  thereby. 

Tn  that  eventful  third  day  of  Christ's 
final  week  in  the  temple,  certain 
Greeks  came  to  Philip,  saying:  "Sir,  we 
would  see  Jesus."  But  Jesus,  finishing 
his  discourse,  went  and  hid  himself.4* 

^  Many  today  seek,   just   as    did  the 
Greeks,  to  see  Jesus,  as  if  the  view  of 

"D.  &  C  29:41;  II  Nephi  9:6;  Alma  12:16,  32; 
40:26;  II  Nephi  9:5  ff.;  Helaman  14:18;  Alma  11:12  ff.; 
D.  &  C.  29:  42-43;  II  Nephi  2:22-25. 

42II   Neohi   2:25;     Moses  5:11 

^1  Cor.  15:22 

^Mackenzie  in  Hastings  Enc.  Religion  and  Ethics, 
sub  voce  Jesus   Christ,   Par.   5    (c). 

«John   12:21-36 

THE  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 


"BEHOLD  THE  LAMB  OF  GOD" 


him  would  come  for  the  mere  asking. 
But  he  is  not  to  be  seen  from  the  casual, 
curious,  or  doubting  desire. 

To  the  millions  of  the  humble  and 
honest  in  heart  who  are  discouraged, 
weary,  grief  stricken,  despairing,  and 
who  would  see  Jesus,  and  who,  seeing 
Him,  would  know  Him,  we  repeat  the 
words  spoken  by  Jesus  to  this  genera- 
tion: "...  every  soul  who  forsaketh 
his  sins  and  cometh  unto  me,  and 
calleth  on  my  name,  and  obeyeth  my 
voice,  and  keepeth  my  commandments, 
shall  see  my  face  and  know  that  I  am."*9 

"His  will"  is  easy  to  know.  The  gos- 
pel of  Christ  is  simple.  It  is  the  "way 
of  holiness"  that  is  so  plain  that  "way- 
faring men,  though  fools,  shall  not  err 
therein."47 

To  you  who  seek  truth,  we  say  leave 
off,  sweep  out  of  your  path,  the  false 
reasonings,  the  rationalizing,  the  spirit- 
destroying  questioning  of  men,  who 
without  faith  themselves  would  kill  the 
faith  of  others;  leave  off  trying  to  make 
your  finite  mind  reach  into  and  com- 
prehend the  knowledge  and  wisdom  of 
the  infinite;  read  the  good  book  your- 
selves in  humility  and  faith;  pray  while 
you    read;     live    the    doctrines    Jesus 

*eD.  &  C.  93:1 
47Isaiah  35:8 


taught, — and  God  will  not  leave  your 
soul  barren,  for  it  is  written,  "If  any 
of  you  lack  wisdom,  let  him  ask  of  God, 
that  giveth  to  all  men  liberally,  and  up- 
braideth  not;  and  it  shall  be  given 
him."48 

Then  shall  you  see  Jesus;  you  will 
walk  and  talk  with  Him  in  spirit;  and 
into  your  lives  will  come  a  joy  that  will 
fill  your  being  to  the  brim;  "And  this  is 
life  eternal,  that  they  might  know  thee 
the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ, 
whom  thou  hast  sent."49  And  Jesus  Him- 
self bade  us  come  to  Him.  For  He  has 
said  to  all  men  of  all  times:  "Come 
unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy 
laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."60  For 
"Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I 
give  unto  you :  not  as  the  world  giveth, 
give  I  unto  you.  Let  not  your  heart  be 
troubled,  neither  let  it  be  afraid."151 

I  leave  with  you  my  witness  that 
Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  very  Messiah 
that  was  to  come,  the  Redeemer  of  the 
World,  the  First  Fruits  of  the  Resurrec- 
tion, the  Savior  of  us  all. 

May  God  add  to  and  perfect  the 
testimonies  of  all  of  us,  I  humbly  pray, 
in  Christ's  name.    Amen. 

^James  1:5 
«John  17:3 
»>Matt.  11:28 
KJohn  H:27 


EVIDENCES  AND  RECONCILIATIONS 


(Concluded  from  page  29) 
need,  of  man,  for  an  individual,  personal 
identity  on  earth  as  in  heaven. 

By  reincarnation  the  power  of  God 
seems  also  to  be  limited.  He  uses  the 
same,  relatively  few,  spirits  over  and 
over  again,  endlessly,  to  accomplish 
whatever  may  be  his  purpose.  He  seems 
to  be  short  of  material  and  vague  in  his 
purpose.  This  is  out  of  harmony  with 
the  gospel,  which  teaches  that  there  is 
a  host  of  spirits  waiting  to  take  upon 
themselves  mortal  bodies,  and  that  the 
next  stage  of  existence  will  come  when 
this  has  been  accomplished. 

This  doctrine  of  confusion  presents 
no  final  objective  in  life.  It  seems  to 
suggest  only  living  over  and  over  again 
on  earth,  much  the  same  experiences, 
sometimes  as  a  man,  sometimes  as  some- 
thing else.  To  what  ultimate  state  does 
it  lead  us?  Even  in  human  affairs,  sol- 
diers who  may  fight  many  a  battle  in 
various  places,  come  at  last  to  an  end — 
victory  or  defeat.  Reincarnation  sets 
up  no  understandable  objective  of  ex- 
istence, except  that  we  are  advancing; 
but  how  and  to  what  end?  It  reduces  the 
spirit  of  man  to  the  position  of  a  tread- 
mill worker  in  the  affairs  of  the  uni- 
verse. Some  say  that  the  end  is  nirvana, 
first  held  to  be  extinction  of  existence; 
now  a  fusion  into  a  mass  of  security. 
That  does  not  help. 

This  is  in  clearest  opposition  to  the 
doctrine  of  progression,  which  lies 
fundamentally  in  the  gospel  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  The  objective  of  life  is 
to  move  toward  the  likeness  of  God. 
Man  rises  continually.    Once  on  earth, 

JANUARY,  1945 


he  experiences  earth  life,  with  its  joys 
and  sorrows:  then  bids  it  farewell,  to 
enter  into  another  life  where  he  con- 
tinues with  added  power,  in  the  advanc- 
ing program  of  existence.  He  out- 
grows the  past  throughout  eternal  ex- 
istence. Reincarnation  moves  in  a  circle; 
the  gospel  in  an  ascending  spiral.  Ex- 
istence without  a  definite  objective,  but 
with  constant  repetitions,  is  valueless. 
Finally,  reincarnation  is  incompat- 
ible with  the  resurrection  of  the  body, 
through  the  redeeming  service  of  Jesus 
Christ.  The  continuous  changing  of 
bodies  makes  the  resurrection  and  any 
redeeming  act,  unnecessary.  It  places 
the  Christ  in  the  class  of  fakirs.  A 
Christian  cannot  believe  in  reincarna- 
tion. That  should  be,  in  itself,  a  suffi- 
cient answer  to  the  question  at  the  head 
of  this  writing. — J.  A.  W. 

References:  Reincarnation,  The  Hope  of 
the  World,  Rt.  Reverend  Irving  S.  Cooper; 
Reincarnation,  A  Study  of  Forgotten  Truth, 
E.  D.  Walker. 


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heat   1  cup  hot  water 

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Bring  to  full  boil. 
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55 


^mVagc  owi  Ours 


Italy 
Dear  Editors: 

I  received  your  greetings  a  day  or  so  ago,  and  wish  to  express 
my  thanks  and  appreciation  to  you  for  your  thoughtfulness 
of  thinking  of  me  and  other  fellows  in  these  far  away  and  lonely 
countries.  I  cannot  express  the  joyous  blessing  it  brought  to 
me  and  am  proud  of  you — the  Church  and  things  you  are 
doing,  for  they  are  greatly  appreciated  and  more  helpful  than 
many  individuals  may  surmise. 

By  doing  these  things,  great  accomplishments  have  been 
acquired,  and  we  ourselves  are  more  certain  that  victory  is 
ours,  for  the  selfish  shall  be  conquered.  We  know  what  we 
are  fighting  for,  and  shall  not  give  up  till  the  world  is  free- 
peace  and  happiness  restored — and  all  continents  are  back  to 
normal. 

I  am  very  grateful  to  you  for  sending  me  The  Improvement 
Era  again  this  year.  Many  enjoyable  evenings  were  spent 
reading  each  issue  of  last  year's  and  I  know  that  I  will  enjoy 
this  year's  as  well. 

May  you  and  members  of  the  Church  have  the  strength, 
health,  and  will  to  carry  on  your  great  works. 

I  remain 

Sincerely  yours, 

Richard  W.  Naylor 
$ 

Vancouver,  Washington 
Dear  Editors: 

BROTHER  Bales  and  I  are  local  missionaries  and  we  are  doing 
special  work  with  our  servicemen.  We  have  formed  a 
group  known  as  "The  Lost  Tribe  Fireside  Group."  Only 
servicemen  of  our  faith  and  L.D.S.  girls  who  are  living  up  to 
the  Word  of  Wisdom  can  belong.  Now  we  are  studying  the 
Book  of  Mormon  and  have  a  class  of  one  and  one-half  hours 
to  study  each  Friday  evening,  and  the  rest  of  the  evening  is 
spent  in  dancing,  games,  and  other  activities. 

The  boys  named  their  own  group  as  most  of  them  felt 
that  in  a  way  they  were  lost  to  the  Church  and  so  after  voting 
on  a  name  they  agreed  on  the  "Lost  Tribe."  We  as  a  group 
have  been  given  the  assignment  of  the  Era  drive.  As 
sponsors  of  the  group  they  are  signing  Brother  Bales'  and  my 
name,  so  we  expect  to  reach  at  least  thirty  subscriptions  before 
April  1,  and  I  know  we  will  make  it  by  then.  We  need  just 
one  to  be  over  our  quota,  and  I  have  that  coming  in  Sunday. 
Brother  Bales  and  I  would  like  to  have  our  group  have  the 
credit  for  this  as  we  are  proud  of  our  young  men  and  young 
women. 


Yours  sincerely, 

Brother  and  Sister  John  W.  Bales 


-$- 


India 
Dear  Editors: 

There  is  no  other  group  of  men  who  have  their  finger  on 
the  pulse  of  the  world  as  do  the  leaders  of  the  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints. 

The  conference  issue  answered  the  wants  and  questions  of  us 
all.  The  hope  and  faith  in  the  resurrection,  the  guidance  given 
those  in  the  service,  the  reality  of  conditions  that  exist,  and  the 
steps  we  are  to  take  if  we  are  to  correct  them,  and  finally,  our 
faith  in  the  future  has  been  refreshed. 

May  the  Lord  bless  you  in  your  endeavors  that  we  may 
continue  to  receive  the  inspired  words  of  our  leaders. 

Sincerely, 

W.  O.  Karl  E.  Lingwall 


■&■ 


San  Francisco,  California 
Dear  Editors: 

I  have  read  many  a  testimony  of  the  good  work  the  Era  is 
doing,  at  home,  in  the  mission  fields,  and  in  the  armed  forces. 
Many  of  our  own  people  are  finding  out  just  how  valuable 
it  really  is. 

In  the  days  I  have  spent  on  the  Gilbert  and  Marshall  Islands, 
reading  material  has  been  hard  to  get.   The  fellows  would  read 


almost  anything,  good  or  bad.  I'm  very  happy  that  I  was  able 
to  pass  the  Era  to  them.  Some  just  read  the  stories,  others 
more,  and  many  times  I  have  seen  them  reach  for  the  Bible  to 
check  a  scripture,  which  proves  to  me  they  are  interested  in 
the  subject  which  they  are  reading.  This  has  brought  about  the 
reading  of  other  books  I  have. 

I  might  add,  the  Era  has  proved  itself  to  me  as  a  "silent 
missionary"  on  hand  at  the  right  times,  and  will  continue  to  be 
if  we  will  but  lend  a  helping  hand. 

Sincerely, 

J.  Barrett  Haws 


CORRECTION 

IN  the  December  1944  issue  of  the  Era  in  the  article  "A 
Mormon  Wife — the  Life  Story  of  Augusta  Winters 
Grant,"  the  caption  under  the  picture  titled  Rebecca  Bur- 
dick  Winters,  mother  of  Augusta,  should  have  read: 
Mary-Ann  Frost  Stearns,  grandmother  of  Augusta. 


Was  That  Nice? 

Janie:    "I  just  can't  bear  to  think  of  my  thirtieth  birthday." 
Mary:    "Gracious — what  went  wrong?" 

The  Truth  Will  Out 

Professor:  "I  am  going  to  speak  on  liars  today.  How  many 
of  you  have  read  the  twenty-fifth  chapter  of  the  text? 

Nearly  every  student  raised  his  hand. 

Professor:  "Good.  You  are  the  group  to  whom  I  wish  to 
speak.  There  is  no  twenty-fifth  chapter. 


Rejoinder 


Witness: 
Lawyer: 


'I  think- 


What  we  want 


"We  don't  care  what  you  think, 
to  know  is  what  you  know." 

Witness:  "If  you  don't  want  to  know  what  I  think,  I  may 
as  well  leave  the  witness  box.  I  can't  talk  without  thinking. 
I'm  not  a  lawyer." 

Reciprocal 

"I'll  give  you  fifty  cents  if  you'll  wash  your  face,"  said  the 
college  professor  to  his  small  son. 

"Keep  it  and  get  a  haircut,"  was  the  young  hopeful's  reply. 

Practice  Makes  Perfect 

At  the  Lincoln  County  picnic  at  Vineland,  the  rolling-pin 
throwing  contest  was  won  by  Mrs.  W.  H.  Upsall,  who  threw 
the  rolling-pin  67  feet.  Her  husband  won  the  100-yard  dash  for 
married  men.  e 

Bit  by  Bit 

Barbara  (whose  first  tooth  has  just  dropped  out) :  "Mummy, 
mummy,  quick!    I'm  coming  to  pieces!" 

Ah,  Me 

Little  John:    "Papa,  give  me  some  money." 
Papa:    "Why  do  you  want  money,  Johnnie?" 
Little  John:    "Well,  suppose  a  robber  was  to  stop  me  and 
say,  'Your  money  or  your  life,'  and  I  hadn't  any  money." 

Mannerly  Little  Man 

"What  dirty  hands  you  have,  Jimmy,"  said  the  young  teacher. 
"What  would  you  say  if  I  came  to  school  without  washing  my 
hands?" 

"Shouldn't  say  nuffin',"  replied  Jimmy.    "I'd  be  too  polite." 

He  Was  Right  at  That 

Johnny  was  learning   the  alphabet  and  was  asked  by  his 
teacher  what  letter  came  after  "H." 
"I  dunno." 

"What  have  I  on  each  side  of  my  nose?" 
"Freckles." 


56 


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